24
by Dr. Eminem
Summary: Jack's not so peaceful life after CTU. I've added another ending not so cheesy. Possibly leading into another story. Let me know if anyones interested and I'm thinking about going back in and redueing some of it so it's not so rushed ending as it was.
1. Chpater 1

Jack Bauer sat in his empty apartment alone. He drank the bottle of Southern Comfort he picked up at the store on the way home. He had never really drank alone until now. The warm liquid went down his throat. Suddenly he couldn't stand the quietness. He went to the small back room and grabbed his guitar. He knew a few songs on it, but for some reason he started to play the guitar riff from the Who's Behind Blue Eyes.  
  
The worlds began to flow through his mouth without him really recognizing that he was singing, "No one knows what it's like to be the bad man. To be the sad man. Behind blue eyes. No one knows what it's like to be hated. To be faded to telling lonely lies. But my dreams they aren't as empty as my conscious seems to be. I have hours only lonely my love is vengeances. That's never free." He hadn't played the guitar or sung in what seemed like years. In some ways he felt less whatever he was feeling. Was it depression? Or just sadness? When does sadness become depression? He thought to himself as he sang and played his guitar.  
  
All of the sudden there was a bang on the door. He jumped back into his normal state of mind. He put the cap on the Southern Comfort and went to the door. He looked through the peep hole and saw that he did not know the person. He opened the door and said, "Hello. How can I help you?"  
  
The woman looked up at Jack and blushed. She felt embarrassed to ask, "I was wondering if you could help me out. See I'm moving in next door and the person who helped me load all of the things into my truck left, and I know I can't get the stuff out by myself, and I have no one else to ask. I'm really embarrassed about asking you."  
  
"Sure. I can help. Just give me a second to . . ." Jack said early hoping to rid himself of the loneliness he was feeling. Even if it was to help a stranger out; he wouldn't be sitting in his house drinking by himself.  
  
The woman interrupted him and said, "You know you don't have to help me. I understand . . ."  
  
Jack interrupted her and said, "It fine. I would be happy to help."  
  
Jack left the door opened while he went back to his room and grabbed his shoes. The woman stepped inside the apartment and looked around. There were still boxes of stuff Jack had not unpacked and probably would never unpack. When he moved in he only unpacked the few essential things he needed. Other than that he did not care.  
  
When Jack returned the lady asked, "Did you just move in?"  
  
Jack smiled and a little embarrassed to answer, "No. I've actually lived here a year. I just never have found the time to unpack completely."  
  
The woman smiled at him. He was wondering what she was thinking.  
  
She asked, "Was that you just playing and singing?"  
  
Jack answered bashfully, "Yeah. By the way I'm Jack."  
  
"I forgot to introduce myself I'm Amber. You sounded really good. Do you play professionally?" She asked trying to find out more about her new neighbor.  
  
"No. I haven't played in awhile, actually. We better start getting your stuff in before it gets dark. This isn't the best neighborhood to leave things unattended." Jack said trying to smile. Teri had always said his smile made him look innocent and kind.  
  
The two worked on unpacking the over packed truck. A few hours later they finished and Amber asked, "Would you like to go out to dinner or have a drink with me? I feel like I should repay you somehow."  
  
Jack smiled at her and answered, "I would love to, but I have someone brining dinner over tonight."  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't know you had a girlfriend." Amber said before she knew what she was saying. She was physically attracted to this handsome man.  
  
"No. I don't. It's my daughter Kim. She usually brings dinner over to my house every night otherwise she figured I'd never eat." Jack said feeling a sudden rush of panic. This woman actually was attracted to him, and was hurt at the thought of him having a girlfriend. He hadn't had someone look at him that way in a long time. "How about I see if she has enough for three and you can come over. She's a great cook and there is no way you'll get a pizza or anything to deliver out here."  
  
"No I don't want to intrude I have done enough of that enough. Maybe at a later date. I need to unpack anyways." Amber said feeling somewhat better that he didn't have a girlfriend.  
  
"Yeah. Hopefully you're better at it than I am." Jack said jokingly.  
  
"Anyone could be better than your unpacking by the sight of things." She said, and after she said it she worried that maybe she put her foot in her mouth as she always seemed to do.  
  
"Probably," He said smiling at her. "Have a good night. And welcome to the neighborhood."  
  
Jack walked back to his apartment and his heart was full of joy. He wasn't sure why. The black cloud that had settled over his heart disappeared. Was it the contact with someone outside of his normal world? He had already dealt with loosing Teri that wasn't bothering as much anymore. He even got use to not having Kate around. He wasn't sure why he was depressed and now why he was happy. It was like being up and down at the same time. A weird hyper feeling over took him. He grabbed the bottle of southern comfort and hid it in his bedroom. Kim would be mad if she found out he was drinking. He walked back out to the living room and sat down. He grabbed his guitar and began to play again. This time he played "While my Guitar Gently Weeps." He was never a big Beatle's fan but the guitar to the song was a good riff. It had the blues feel to it that Jack loved.  
  
In the middle of the song he heard the door open. He didn't look up. Ever since he left CTU to go off and do other things he had gotten sloppy and less paranoid. He knew it was Kim and there was no reason to look up and see if it was someone else.  
  
"Hello Dad." Kim said as she walked in with a big smile.  
  
Jack looked up while continuing to play, "Hi. How was work?"  
  
"The usual. Michelle told me to beg you to come back. Tony and she have been working their butts off." Kim said smiling. Knowing her father had not intention of going back any time soon.  
  
"What's for dinner?" Jack said putting the guitar down and walking to the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.  
  
"I brought over some stir-fry from the Chinese place by CTU." Kim answered taking the boxes of Chinese food out of the bag.  
  
Jack walked behind her and grabbed the plates from the cabinet and forks for them. He set them on the table.  
  
"Why are you so happy today? Playing the guitar again huh?" Kim said trying to find out what had her father floating on cloud nine. He hasn't been that happy in a long time.  
  
"Not sure. I just felt like playing." Jack said not wanting to tell his daughter about the neighbor. For some reason he feared Kim would not understand.  
  
"I see you have a new neighbor. She's not bad looking. Have you meant her yet?" Kim said.  
  
"Um. Yeah. I helped her move in. She need some help carrying the boxes up." Jack said, and the instant he said it he knew he would of pissed Kim off.  
  
"Dad! Why didn't you tell me is that why you are so happy?" Kim said a little pissed off that a stranger could make her dad happy and he couldn't.  
  
"Yes Kim. I think so. She was real nice."  
  
"You could have unpacked. You've been here what a year?"  
  
"Or something like that. I just haven't needed to unpack."  
  
They sat in silence for awhile. Both stubborn and neither willing to give in and speak. They had spent many nights like this. Kim was her father's daughter. She had the same stubbornness he had. Finally Jack broke the silence and asked, "How are things going with you and Chase?"  
  
Kim knew her father didn't like the relationship at all, but he never told her she couldn't date Chase. "Good. We are thinking about moving in with each other. His lease runs out next month and he doesn't want to renew it so he's thinking about moving in with me." Kim wasn't sure how her father would take this news. His face didn't betray any feeling.  
  
Jack decided to stay quite on the issue he wasn't going to tell Kim what to do or how to live her life. He wasn't even able to live his life let alone tell her how to live hers. He hated the fact that she was dating a field op agent. She saw what happened to him, yet she persisted on having Chase as a boy friend.  
  
They finished eating and Jack washed the dishes while Kim watched. They talked about what Kim was working on, Tony and Michelle wanted to come over one day or have Jack over. They all wondered how he was doing, and they were all still shocked that he walked away from the job.  
  
After the dishes were washed Kim kissed her father and said, "I better get home. Got an early day tomorrow."  
  
Jack walked his daughter down to her car and watched her drive off. The happiness he had felt earlier went away. The darkness set over his heart again as he walked back to his empty apartment. He walked back to his bedroom and grabbed the bottle of southern comfort. He poured himself a tall glass and than put the bottle back. He sat on the couch and allowed his mind to drift off to where ever it took him. He drank his tall glass of southern slowly. Enjoying the warmth and the cloudiness it brought to his mind. ************************************************************************  
  
Tony sat in his office. It was late and he was tired, but he had to finish the work of the day or he'd be behind tomorrow. He loved his job, but it was becoming overbearing. He needed someone there to help him. Jack had always been able to help him get the work done. It was a split load, but now it was all on Tony. He missed Jack. The man had brought some interesting things to CTU. There was never a lackluster moment when Jack was around.  
  
Michelle walked up to his office she smiled at her husband buried in his work. "Honey, it's getting late. Maybe you should give up for the night. We can come in earlier tomorrow and get the rest done." Michelle said trying to pry her husband away from the papers.  
  
"No I need to get this done. I'm almost finished only a few more lines." Tony said when his phone ring. He picked up the phone and said, "Almeida"  
  
"Tony it is Chase has Kim left work yet?"  
  
"Yeah, she left a few hours ago. I think she went to Jack's for dinner tonight."  
  
"She did. But she should have been home by now and she's not." Chase said worried about his girlfriend.  
  
"Maybe she stayed a little later than expected with Jack. Why don't you try him? If she's not there than call back and we'll try to find her." Tony said only semi-worried because he figured Kim was still at her fathers house.  
  
When Tony hung up the phone Michelle figured out what was going on. "Maybe we should go to Jack's? If something happened he'll need someone there."  
  
Tony agreed with her and the two left CTU and ran to their car. Tony drove quickly over to Jacks. ********************************************************************  
  
When Chase hung up from Tony he dialed Jacks number. After about three rings Jack got off the couch and answered the phone.  
  
Clearly he was not quite awake by the sound of his voice, "Hello."  
  
"Jack what time did Kim leave there?"  
  
"Um. I think a hour ago. What time is it?"  
  
"10" Chase answered worried about what might have happened.  
  
"Why did you want to know?" Jack said fearing the answer.  
  
"She isn't home yet."  
  
Jack dropped the phone and ran outside. He noticed when he got outside he didn't have his keys nor his shoes. He ran down the block and noticed his daughter's car parked at the stop sign. He looked inside and there was nothing in it. No sign of a struggle and no sign of Kim. Her cell phone was gone. Jack ran back to his apartment. He hung up the phone and dialed the number to Kim's cell phone. It rang eight times before her voice mail came on.  
  
"You've reached Kim Bauer's cell phone please leave a message."  
  
Jack cursed himself. He hung the phone up and started towards the bedroom to get his shoes on and the keys to his car. He knew he was in no shape to drive, he had too much to drink, but he had to find Kim. He grabbed his cell phone and called Kim's phone again, this time leaving a message, "Kim call me as soon as you get this. Call my cell phone. God where are you at." Jack said worried.  
  
When he reached the outside he ran into Tony. Tony grabbed him and said, "Jack where are you going?"  
  
"Looking for Kim. Get out of my way." Jack said getting ready to fight Tony.  
  
"Jack you are in no condition to drive." Tony said noticing the heavy smell of alcohol in Jacks breath.  
  
"Move now, Tony I don't want to have to, but I will put you on your ass if you don't get out of my way." Jack said getting ready to fight Tony. He didn't care if this man was his friend or even looking out for him, this was his daughter and he was going to find her.  
  
Jacks cell phone rang. He stopped and his hands shook as he answered, "Kim?" 


	2. Chapter 2

Kim lay on a cement floor. She awoke to find her hands tied behind her back. She tried to look around, but it was too dark to see anything. There could be a person a foot from her and she wouldn't know it unless they touched her. She tried to breathe silently trying to hear if someone else was in the room. She held her breath for a minute. She wasn't sure how she got here. She began to remember leaving her fathers house and stopping a block or so away when a woman was waving her arms in distress. The rest was fuzzy. Kim tried to free her hands, but the rope was so tight it hurt when she moved them. She lay on the floor trying not to cry. She was terrified; she wondered why they had kidnapped her this time. Was it because her father or was it because of her job?  
  
Suddenly light flooded the room and Kim blinked her eyes trying to adjust to the brightness of the room. Two guys walked in and grabbed her off the floor. They said nothing to her, nor acted like they noticed her other than carrying her down the hallway.  
  
Kim asked them, "What do you want with me?"  
  
Neither of the men acknowledged her. When they reached the end of the hallway they knocked on a door, and Kim heard a woman say, "Come in."  
  
The men dragged Kim into the room and sat her on a chair. Kim looked around trying to take in her surroundings and the people in the room. She did not notice, at first, she woman in the chair nor anyone else in the room. Kim asked, "What do you want with me?"  
  
The woman smiled at her and said, "Don't worry. We're not going to kill you."  
  
Kim felt a little less terrified, at least she wasn't going to die. But that still didn't answer her question. But than she remembered that there were worse things than death. She remembered how her father looked that day after he was tortured. She did not think she had any information worth torturing her for.  
  
The woman grabbed Kim's cell phone off the table and looked through the contacts. She didn't notice the one she wanted so she asked, "What's your father number?"  
  
Kim looked at her and said, "What do you want with his number?"  
  
"I feel like having a chat with him. What is his number? Next time I won't ask so nice." The woman said.  
  
"I won't give it to you. He can not handle anything like this right now. He is not well." Kim said trying not to show her fear, but everyone in the room could hear it in her voice.  
  
"I'm going to be honest with you Kim. I don't care about your father's condition. But I do care about getting in to contact with him. Now you can either tell me the number and he can choose to come in or I can send a few of my men to pick him up. Either way he's going to get here, but the second way may not be as nice. You see I have no problem with your father, but my men aren't the same. He has caused them many problems over the year, and they won't be as nice as I will be. It's your choice." The woman said in a matter of fact voice.  
  
"You promise no harm will come of him if I give you the number?" Kim asked.  
  
"As long as he does what I want him too, no harm will come of him." The woman promised.  
  
"His number is 555-6660. That's his cell phone. I doubt he has his apartment phone on even." Kim said.  
  
The woman dialed Jack's cell phone number and it was picked up on the second ring.  
  
"Kim?" Jacks voice said.  
  
"No. But I have her here. Do you want to speak to her?" The woman said into the phone.  
  
"If you hurt her I swear I will kill you." Jack said back trying to control his temper. He could feel his heart racing.  
  
"I know you will Mr. Bauer. I have seen your work before. Kim say hi to your father." The woman answered holding the phone to Kim's ear.  
  
"Daddy."  
  
"Kim are you ok? Do you know where you are?" Jack said back desperately hoping he would wake up and it all would be a dream.  
  
"I'm fine dad." Kim yelled as the woman took the phone from her.  
  
Jack heart was racing almost as fast as when he had a heart attack. Every time his heart beat too fast he would fear he was having another one. The doctors said as long as he took care of himself he shouldn't have to worry, but he still did. But he refused to allow his mind to wonder he had to focus on what the woman was saying.  
  
"I want you to go back to your apartment and wait here alone for another phone call. I will have more instructions for you than." The woman said and than hung up the phone.  
  
Fear ran through Jack. He was terrified. It was all happening again. Like with the Drazen's last year. It was all going to happen again, another long night. He feared the outcome would not change besides the person who died, Kim.  
  
Jack was flushed with fear. His face turned pale all of the sudden and Tony asked, "What is going on Jack?"  
  
"Nothing wrong number." Jack said hoping Tony would let sleeping dogs lie.  
  
"Jack that was nothing. Who has Kim?" Tony continued.  
  
"It's nothing Tony. Now go back to wherever." Jack said pissed off. Jack took off up the stairs to his apartment.  
  
Tony and Michelle followed closely behind and when Jack entered his apartment his mind was so far off that he did not shut the door nor notice when Tony and Michelle walked in.  
  
Jack was in his room and he walked out with his hands shaking and the bottle of Southern in his hands. He slowly took a gulp and looked up to see Tony and Michelle there. Frantically he said, "You guys have to leave you can't be here."  
  
"Woo. Hold on a second. We can't go Jack. If something has happen to Kim we have to deal with it. You are no longer a CTU agent. Also you are in no shape to be alone." Tony said.  
  
"All the better that I'm not CTU no red tape. No leave. As a citizen I have the right to tell you to get out of my house." Jack said making it known that he was willing to go to the extreme for them to leave.  
  
"As a federal agent I have the right to stay under the pretense that there is going to be a possible link to a crime in this place. I have probable cause Jack." Tony iterated trying to stress the point that they were there to stay.  
  
Jack stormed off to his room. He knew what he was about ready to do would end up causing troubles for him, but it was his daughter's life and she was all he had left. If she died, he had nothing left to loose so he decided to put it all on the line once again to save her. This time he would be more successful than the last time. In his room he grabbed the gun out of his night stand drawer. He pulled the chamber back and allowed it to load a bullet. Clicking back in place as quietly as he could, he walked back out into the living room where Tony and Michelle were sitting.  
  
Tony stood when he saw Jack enter with the 9mm berretta at his side. "Jack what are you doing?"  
  
Jack pointed the gun at Tony and in a calm cold voice said, "Tony get out now. I don't want to shoot you, but I will. This is my daughter life. Leave now."  
  
Tony looked into Jacks green eyes and noticed the coldness to them. Jack was not kidding, and Tony could see it. "Jack your causing more problems. Put the gun down and we'll forget about it, otherwise I'm going to have to take you into custody."  
  
"No you are not. You are going to walk out of this place and go to CTU. You are more than welcome to have your own investigation, but if I see anyone I will shoot them. This is my daughter and she is all I have left. They made it clear you are to be gone before they call. So leave now."  
  
Tony stepped defensively in front of Michelle and began to push her towards the door. At the door Michelle opened it and both stepped outside. When they were both out Tony closed the door. They stood outside for a moment and than began to walk towards their car.  
  
Once at the car Tony called CTU.  
  
Glen the new tech picked up the phone, "CTU".  
  
"Glen it is Tony. I want you to access Jack Bauer's phone. I want all calls coming in our out traced. And if we can I'd like to listen in to the conversation. Patch it through to my car. Send a car out to pick up Michelle. I'm going to try to follow Jack." Tony ordered without clarifying why he was ordering these strange things.  
  
Meanwhile Jack sat on his couch watching his phone. Praying for it to ring because sitting around was something he never was good at. He began to pace the room. His breathing was back to normal and all of the pain was gone. He made sure to pack his pills with him. He continued to pace and when the phone finally did ring because of his shot nerves he jumped. He ran to the phone and answered it, with his shaky hands.  
  
"Bauer."  
  
"Nice to see that you got them to leave Jack, but did you need the gun? If you have to keep it on you for awhile. Walk to the park down the street and wait at the statue make sure you are not followed, but don't kill anyone." The woman voice from before instructed.  
  
Jack hung up the phone and began his trip to the park. He noticed Tony and Michelle sitting outside. Jack grabbed the knife out of his pocket. He walked up behind the car and pushed the knife into one tire and than walked over to the other and did the same.  
  
Tony hopped out of the SUV and said, "What in the hell are you doing Jack?" Tony pulled his gun and pointed it at Jack, "You're coming with me. This has gone way too far."  
  
Jack looked at Tony and in a calm bloodcurdling voice he said, "I guess you'll have to shoot me Tony because I'm not coming with you. And if you follow me I will stop you."  
  
Tony continued to point his gun at Jack as he walked off. After Jack rounded the corner he went into a sprint to try to get distance between him and Tony. He knew Tony would follow him, but he hoped that he would loose Tony in the park.  
  
Now in the park Jack began to slow into a walk. He looked behind him and saw Tony not to far off in the distance. Jack walked into the bathrooms and waited for Tony to follow him in.  
  
When Tony entered the bathroom he had his gun drawn ready for something to happen. When he walked in he saw Jack leaning against the wall holding his chest. Instantly Tony worried that Jack was having another heart attack, "Jack are you ok."  
  
Grabbing at his chest Jack did not answer or look up. If he had his eyes would have told Tony that he was faking it. When Tony got close enough Jack threw a punch colliding with Tony's head. The punch knocked Tony out.  
  
Jack took Tony's tie off and used it to tie his hands behind his back, "Sorry Tony, but if they see you they will kill Kim." Jack said feeling sorry for his friend. Jack left the bathroom and looked around to see if Michelle was in sight. Not seeing her he continued on towards the statue at the top of the park. When he reached the statue he leaned against it catching his breath.  
  
A man approached him and asked, "Are you Bauer?"  
  
Jack looked up and answered, "Yes."  
  
"Follow me please."  
  
The man led Jack through the park to a desolate parking area. Once there he pointed to a van and said, "Knock on the door and give the person inside any weapons you have. Please give them all they will search you, but they are giving you a chance to show good faith."  
  
Jack did as he was told. He handed over his gun and knife. When he was done a woman hopped out of the front and ordered, "Put your hands on your head and lean against the van. You know the drill."  
  
The woman began to search him she gently patted around his chest and other regions. When she reached his pockets she pulled out his cell phone, and wallet.  
  
When she was done searching him she ordered, "Put your hands behind your back." When he had his hands behind his back she took a plastic handcuff set and hand used it to secure his hands. When she was finished she said, "I'm going to put this blindfold on you." She said it as not to alarm him. She knew what he was capable of, and she wanted him to willing follow them.  
  
Helping him back into the van she sat next to him in the back and the person who walked him there hopped in the front and drove off into the night.  
  
Jack sat in silence listening to his own breaths. He was not sure who he was being taken by. It was weird in the since that they were being nice to him so far. He expected something worse, but in some sense he dreaded it because it had to get worse it always did.  
  
He sat quietly trying to listen for familiar noises that would tell him where he was at. If he could figure out where they were taking him, and fink Kim he might be able to try to escape his captors. 


	3. Chapter 3 Revised

Chapter 3   
  
Tony woke up on the bathroom floor. He struggled to sit up, with his hands behind his back. This task was difficult. He walked back to the car with his hands behind his back. He hoped no one decided to mug him or anything, he was in the park late with his hands immobile, if he was a mugger he had good prey. When Tony reached the car Michelle was still sitting outside.   
  
  
"What happened?" She asked as she saw him approaching the car.   
  
"Jack. Damn him. He can't do anything the easy way. Help me get this off." He said turning around so that Michelle could untie his hands. When she was finished they both got into the car and Tony called CTU again, "Where is the car I asked for?" Tony yelled at Glen.  
  
"It's on its way sir." Glen answered.   
  
  
"Tell the driver to hurry up. Did you get the trace on the call to Jack's home?" Tony snapped.  
  
"No sir. Wasn't long enough. We did get a recording though. The phone company allowed that. I told them that Jack was an employee here. He still needed the call recorded for National Security matters." Glen said trying to show Tony his abilities. He wanted to be able to move up the ladder, and with Kim here, he knows he had major competition.  
  
"Good. Play it for me now. While I wait on this damn car to show up." Tony said in a calmer voice.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
The van halted suddenly. The woman that was sitting next to Jack order, "Get up." She helped him stand and pushed him towards the doors. "Step down." She said when they reached the inn.   
  
  
  
When both people were on the ground the woman led Jack down some stairs and through what sounded like a hallway, a cement hallway. She stopped him, opened and door and pushed him inside. She close the door and left.  
  
  
Jack stood in what he figured was a room, but he really had no way of telling. He just stood there like an idiot. Wondering where he was, and where Kim was. He stood for about a minute before he heard the door open. He turned around as if to look who was coming in, but he couldn't see because of the blindfold.   
  
Someone grabbed his arm and led him to a chair. "Sit." The man said.   
  
  
Jack sat down and asked, "Where is my daughter?" The man looked at Jack. He did not like this man, but because his boss told him not to mess with him or communicate with him, the man just shook his head and went and sat in the corner of the room.  
  
A few minutes later the door opened again, Jack was not sure if it was the person leaving, or someone entering. He cursed the blindfold in his head. He hated not being able to see what was going on.   
  
  
The woman from the phone spoke, "Hello Jack. Have you missed me?" She had always been able to read Jack's face. He was good at hiding what he felt, but there was always a slight twitch when he was confused. She noticed it and said, "What you don't remember me Jack?"  
  
"I'm sorry do I know you?" Jack said trying to be polite. Besides being ignored, kidnapped, and having his daughter kidnapped everyone had been relatively nice to him, so why not continue the niceness.   
  
  
"I'm hurt you don't remember me. It's been like seven years? Remember Kosovo? I was only twenty something then, but you didn't mind."  
  
  
"Darla?"   
  
  
  
"Bingo."  
  
"But I thought you were de..."  
  
  
She cut him off, "Dead. Nope but the first week you were gone I wished I was. The Drazen's were pissed off at you and your men. I heard that only one of the American's escaped. I figured it was you, you were always a survivor. I was happy years later when I finally got away that it was you. But than I began to wonder why you were the only one to survive? That was answered later."  
  
"I did not sell anyone out and you know that Darla." Jack said letting his anger show.  
  
  
"Don't worry that is not why you're here."  
  
  
"Then why am I here? And why did you kidnapped my daughter?" Jack said still angry. "All you had to do was call." Darla looked at the man in the corner and said, "Can you go outside for a moment please."  
  
"Can you take this blindfold off; it's bothering me." Jack asked.  
  
  
"Yeah." She said. She gently pulled it off his head.  
  
  
"I'm retired now. So whatever you want I'm pretty sure I can't do." Jack said.  
  
"Jack people like us can not retire. The government loves us too much and they will always want more from us. Until there is nothing left. You still have something left Jack." Darla said smiling; she knew what Jack was thinking.  
  
"So why am I here?" Jack said allowing his anger to show. He knew she could read him like a book, she had always been able to, and that is what originally attracted him to her.  
  
"You'll find out later." She said not wanting to trust him yet.   
  
Jack sat in silence. He was really pissed now. He would remember when he came back, if he came back to move somewhere they won't be able to track him. "You have to let my daughter go and I will do whatever you need me to do. Other wise I will fight tooth and nail. I don't want anything to happen to her." Jack ordered.  
  
"I can live with that." She walked out of the room and told Jim, "Take Ms. Bauer back to her car. Leave her and come back. We should be on the boat by then." "I'll see you in a half hour."  
  
Darla walked back into the room and said, "Let's go. We are moving to the boat. From there I'm not sure yet."  
  
She led Jack through the back through the hallway and up the stairs. When they got outside Jack noticed the marina. It shocked him because he didn't hear anything that even suggested that they were there on their way there. He thought to himself that he was getting rusty.   
  
Darla led Jack past men he didn't notice, but he could tell that most of them were not fond of him. She led him onto the yacht and down to a room that was across from the engine room.   
  
  
When they got into the room she pulled out a knife. She noticed Jack's body tense. She cut the cuffs free from his hands and pulled a metal pair out. She took his hands and cuffed them behind his back again.  
  
Jack heart was racing.  
  
"Tell me about a few years ago. I heard a nasty rumor. Is it true?" Darla asked inquiring about the nuclear bomb year.  
  
  
Jack looked at her. He didn't like to speak about it, but he had been very intimate with her once, and he couldn't lie to her without her knowing. Also it wasn't like it was top secret information. "A few years ago, I was asked roughly about some information I had, and they pushed a little harder and I wouldn't budge and I flat lined for a minute."   
She looked at him and asked, "Is that why there is pain in your eyes?"  
  
  
"No."   
"Teri. I almost forgot. I'm so sorry. I know what she meant to you Jack." Darla said feeling stupid for not thinking of it earlier  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------  
  
The man drove Kim for what seemed like forever. She thought that he was going to drive her to some desolate place and kill her, but when he turned into the city she wondered what was happening. She sat quietly wondering about what was going on. Was her father making a trade for her? When the man pulled down her father's street and stopped at her car Kim looked at him confused. "What's going on? Where is my father?"  
  
  
"Your father is fine. And you are free to go. Please don't try to trace us because you won't find us. Please get out and go. Do not follow me." The man ordered.  
  
Kim got out of the car a reluctantly stood at her car as she watched the man drive off. She was confused about why they were letting her go? She walked back to her father's house and went into the building. She went to his door and it was locked. She knocked thinking maybe he came back and went to sleep.   
  
His new neighbor opened her door and said, "He and the others left a few hours ago. Is he ok? I heard what sounded like someone falling?"   
"I'm not sure. If you happen to hear him come back can you do me a favor and ask him to call his daughter please." Kim said smiling at the woman, worried about her father. "Sure. No problem." The woman said trying to be helpful.  
  
Kim left the building and drove to CTU. When she entered the building Tony rushed over to her. "What are you doing here? Where have you been?"  
  
"I was grabbed by some people. They called my father and ordered him to go to the apartment and wait for their call alone. After that I don't know. They just dropped me off at my car. I went to his apartment and he's not there." Kim said trying not to show she was scared.  
  
"I need to debrief you Kim." Tony led her to his office and asked her to sit. "Do you have any clue as to where they took you?"  
  
"When I left we were at the marina. The woman that called my father she knew him before. She seemed to know about him and she said she has seen his work before. The way she acted they knew each other before. It was like she was trying to hide it, but I could tell. I'm not sure how."  
  
"OK, Kim. I'll have Michelle look through his past to try to find a woman. Do you have a description of her?"  
  
"Tall, black hair, blue eyes and a hint of an accent. Almost like Russian, but not quite and it was barely there." Kim said.  
  
"That's good Kim. That will help us find her. Is there anything else you can remember?"  
  
"She said he wouldn't be hurt as long as he did what she wanted."   
  
"OK Kim. Why don't you go home for the night. I'll send some agents by to watch the place to make sure nothing else happens." Tony said in a gentle caring voice.  
  
"Will you call me if anything comes up?" Kim asked worried.  
  
"Yes. You will be the first person I call." Tony said trying to encourage her to go home. Before Kim left she stopped by her fathers office where Chase was working. She told him what happened and asked him to try to help her find her father.   
  
"Kim I will find him for you. I don't think you should be involved. Do you have a key to his apartment?" Chase asked.  
  
"No. But the manager will let me in if I ask." Kim answered.  
  
"Good. I'll ask Tony to let me go and we can go to his apartment. He used to keep like a journal and files from his past. He wasn't suppose to have them either, but he kept them just in case he ever needed them. If we can find those we might be able to find this woman. After that we can try to find out where they went to. I doubt they're still at the Marina. Most likely they took off on a boat. It would make sense to escape with him because no one would know he was there, and he can't really escape." Chase said dreading Kim's reaction to her father not being able to escape.   
  
"Fine. See if Tony will let you leave. I'll meet you in the garage area." Kim said leaving.  
  
Chase ran over to Tony and asked, "Is it okay if I leave with Kim? She's sort of shook up and really scared. I don't want to leave her alone."   
  
"Sure. If we get anything I might need you back here." Tony said.  
  
"I'll have my cell phone on."   
  
Chase ran down to the garage parking area and found Kim waiting at her car. He told her he would follow her in his truck. They drove to Jack's apartment. Kim woke the manager up who had clearly passed out. He walked them up to Jack's apartment and he unlocked the door for them. "I'm not supposed to do this, but since you are his daughter and all and you want to surprise him, I will this once." The manager said believing Kim's story of it being her father's birthday and she wanted to surprise him when he came home.  
  
Once inside, Chase went to Jack's room. He figured if there was anything like he wanted they would be in there. When he entered Jack's room he was surprised by the plainness of the room. Inside all there was a bed and some boxes under it. Chase went through the boxes until he got the one he wanted. He walked out to the kitchen where Kim was making coffee for them.  
  
  
"Found them." Chase said holding up the box.   
  
  
"Good. Lets start going through them."  
  
They sat at the table drinking coffee looking through Jack's Bauer's past. Chase took the journals and gave Kim the files. He didn't want Kim to read something that would hurt her and there was probably some of that in these. Some of the places her father had been to and some of the things noted in his file shocked Kim. When she finished she grabbed one of the journals, ignoring Chase's protest and began to read it. It was a journal from when he was over in Kosovo.   
  
He described the area as being beautiful when he first got there, and now it was a wreck. Where houses once stood were piles of rubble. The women and children looked terrified at anyone in uniform or anyone they didn't know for that matter. He went on and on about how he would feel if that were his family. It made Kim almost cry because of the things he had written. As she continued to read her father began to describe his encounters with one of the families. He explained that he was there undercover. He was supposed to help the rebels learn to fight and finished the training with the tools to do so. He and a team of men went there undercover as a part of the peace-keeping mission, but in reality they were training the people.  
  
He encountered a woman and her mother being tormented by a group of Serbian soldiers. Jack had heard about what some of them had done to the women and he made a split second choice and stepped in to help out. He walked the woman home after his intervention. He noticed the car of two Serbian men dressed in civilian clothes drive by them walking three or four times on the way to the ladies' house. When they reached the house the women invited him to stay, and he agreed to.  
  
He figured that he might have saved them for that moment, but now the men were really pissed and would come back for more. He and the younger of the two women began to talk and discussed everything from religion to the current situation. She spoke of a group of people she was with that were trying to fight against the Serbians. At first he thought it was a set up, but later when she walked him to a meeting he decided it wasn't. He told her of his purpose there and the next day she and others followed him back to where they would be trained. He went on to describe his training her, and her ability to learn the things quickly.   
  
When he finally described her Kim jumped out of her seat, startling Chase. "I found her. He doesn't give a name for her though. She's a little older now, and her hair is a different color, but it is her."  
  
Chase took the journal from Kim and read it over again. "Maybe if we give this to Tony there will be some sort of record of her. If the government trained these people they had to keep some sort of record of who they were. They usually do."   
  
Chase went to the phone and called Tony.  
  
"Almeida."  
  
"Tony, it's Chase. I'm at Jack's apartment and Kim and I think we might have a lead on the person who kidnapped Kim, and probably has Jack." Chase said in a hurried voice.  
  
"What do you have?" Tony said. Knowing how they got it, but not asking because the information could get Jack into trouble.  
  
"Jack might have trained her. Over in Kosovo as one of the people who our government trained to fight the Serbian government." Chase said.  
  
"Okay. I'll try to gain access to the files and we can hope they have pictures." Tony paused and took a deep breath, "No more of this investigating behind my back Chase. Take Kim home and do whatever you need to do."  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to get Jack into trouble and I wanted to help. This was the only way I knew how I got the info." Chase said, truly sorry for having to lie to Tony. Tony was a great guy and Chase trusted him, but this was for the man Chase idolized. 


	4. Chapter 4 Revised

Chapter 4  
  
Jack was sitting on a bed. He slowly brought forward under him trying to free them to the front. After trying for about ten minutes he got his hands free to the front. He began to look around the room for something to try to pick the lock on the cuffs when he felt the boat take off. He continued to look until he heard the sound of someone coming. Jack hid behind the door waiting for someone to enter.  
  
Jim opened the door to the room where Darla had told him she put Jack. He was supposed to check on Jack and make sure he was fine and not doing anything. When he opened the door he looked on the bed and noticed Jack was not there.  
  
At that moment Jack threw all his weight against the door, catching Jim between the door jam and the door. Jim screamed out in pain. Jack ran around and kicked Jim in the head knocking him out. He looked through Jim's pockets trying to find the key to the cuffs. Not finding them, he cursed. He took off out of the room and was almost ready to climb up the steps when a three men started down them.  
  
Seeing the Jack was free the men yelled to the others. Darla heard the yells of Jack being free and took of towards the room.  
  
Jack turned around and wasn't sure where he was going to go. He was stuck he figured if he was going to be caught again he would go down fighting. The first of the three reached Jack who was ready. Jack head- butted the man and threw an elbow into the mans abdomen. The man fell to the ground groaning in pain. The next two came at him at the same time and Jack was able to block one of the attackers, but the other was able to hit Jack in the abdomen. The punch knocked the wind out of Jack. He gasped for breath as he stood to try to fight back. The man whose punch he blocked threw another one and this one connected to Jack's face causing Jack's head to turn and bang against the wall. Falling to the ground Jack tried to push himself up again, but the man he had taken down earlier kicked Jack in the ribs. Jack fell to the ground again. He tried one more time, but again the man kicked him in the ribs, and continued to kick him until someone stopped him.  
  
Darla reached the hallway just in time to see one of the men continually kicking Jack who lay on the floor. She yelled stop and the man would not. So she ran up to him and grabbed his throat, pushing him against the wall. "I said stop." She said angrily. She ordered the other two, "Take him back to the room. Secure him to the chair. We need to have a chat, me and him." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Kim sat with Chase. She was now engrossed in the journal she had begun reading earlier. She saw this other life her father had lived. In some ways she felt hurt because he seemed to be happier in those years he spent away from her mother and herself. He had affairs in other countries that her mother never knew about. He had this other life, and her mother nor her were apart of it. At the same time she began to understand what it was to be who her father was. He never told anyone how he felt, but these journals contained those feelings, and insecurities that he would never communicate. She read and the more she read the sadder she became.  
  
Chase noticing the change said, "Kim we better put these back and get out of here. Your father would be pissed if he found out we had read these things."  
  
"I don't care." Kim answered angry with tears now coming down her face.  
  
Chase wasn't sure what to do. He was never taught how to deal with someone he loved crying. It has never really happened before. Chase had the happy family. No one really fought and everyone was genuinely happy. Chase looked at her, "Kim that is a different life he had to live. When your undercover like that even with allies around you, you still have this persona to keep up, and you have to do some things that you might not want to do. He loves you, and he still loves your mother. He always loved her. I remember when I was starting at CTU he had a picture of you and your mother and when we went out on missions where we didn't have to make sure we had no identifiable marks on us he would carry that picture, taped inside his flat jacket."  
  
This kind of surprised Kim because she never expected that of her father. She looked at Chase and said, "Lets go to the Mariana they were at. We might be able to find from the people there the boat they took off on, if they did."  
  
"Kim, Tony did want us to do anymore." Chase said knowing it was worthless. She was her fathers daughter, when she set her mind on something nothing would stop her from doing it, not even a superior telling her not too.  
  
"I don't care what Tony wants. You can go with me or I can go alone, either way I'm going. Your choice." Kim said grabbing her coat and heading out of the door.  
  
Chase ran behind her locking the door as he left. Jack's neighbor stepped out when she heard the door close and asked, "Does Jack know you're here?" She had never meant Chase before and for a second she thought maybe he was breaking in to Jack's apartment.  
  
"Yeah. I work with Jack. I'm his partner Chase."  
  
"He's gay?" The woman said before she knew what was coming out of his mouth.  
  
Chase blushed and said, "No."  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry. I just never figured he was a cop."  
  
"I'm sorry I got to run." Chase said. He took off running towards the car to try to catch Kim.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------  
  
At CTU Tony was quietly trying to investigate Jack's past. He knew Chappelle would not want them focusing their efforts on Jack. Jack was no longer a CTU agent and therefore not their worry. Chappelle still hated Jack for the things he had done in his life; the countless lines that Jack had crossed for the greater good.  
  
He and Michelle were working on that. Otherwise everything was quiet, at least what had become to be quiet at CTU. There were no major threats known, and no one was dying or moles running around.  
  
"Tony maybe we should go home and rest. We've been here since this mourning and there is no way to find the woman's name tonight. Everything about that is classified beyond us and the President would want to know why we want the information, and it is to late to bother him about this wild goose chase." Michelle said trying not to sound insensitive.  
  
"I know. I just feel like we should be trying to do something anything." Tony said looking up at his wife.  
  
"He didn't want our help Tony. Remember he pulled a gun on us and he was going to shoot us if we didn't leave, he even knocked you out Tony." Michelle replied trying to get her husband to understand that Jack brought it on himself.  
  
"You're right. We need to sleep. Tomorrow our minds will be clearer and we'll be able to do more work. Let's go. We'll pick up a pizza or something on the way home." Tony replied. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Jack sat in the chair. Each movement hurt. He knew he had a few broken or possibly bruised ribs. He cleared his mind of he pain and began to focus on the task at hand. Trying to find a way off this boat. He could swim, but if it was to far off shore there was no way he could swim in more than a mile without killing himself in the process. The door opened and he looked to see who entered.  
  
Darla and Jim walked in. "Hi Jack. You remember my friend Jim. You crushed him in to door."  
  
Jack looked up and smiled at the memory. The smile didn't last long because Jim punched him in the face twice causing Jacks mouth to bleed. "Mother fucker almost killed me."  
  
"Jim be nice to our guest for right now. Jack are you going to make this easy or hard?"  
  
"Probably hard. Depending on how you ask." Jack said allowing his smartass side to show for once. Darla always seemed to bring that out of him, most likely because she was a smart ass herself.  
  
"Kind of ironic isn't it; the student torturing the teacher. What's really ironic is you will be broken by the same methods you have used to break others." She said.  
  
"Yeah. I guess I can see how efficient I was at it. People say first hand experience always helps you improve, and it usually does." Jack said smiling at her. He was not going to let her even think for a moment he was afraid of her.  
  
"Look at you trying to be all brave. I know what your thinking though inside your scared shitless. You told me about the last time, and you are afraid of that happening again. Maybe it will. You are strong and pretty damn stubborn so you don't quit even when you should. I guess we will find out. Truthfully I'm not sure what I want from you. Anything at this point would do. But I know someone wants those journals of yours." She pulled out a scalpel and walked up to Jack. "Last chance before it starts to get rough."  
  
Jack sat in silence preparing himself for the long nigh ahead. She walked back over to the table and placed the scalpel down. She looked at Jim and said, "Have fun."  
  
Jim walked up to Jack and began to hit him repeatedly in the face, chest, and anywhere he could hit. Jack only groaned every now and again in pain. When Jim was done he stepped away.  
  
"Come on Jack tell me something?"  
  
Jack took a deep breath and said, "I don't work for CTU anymore. I don't know anything."  
  
"How about those lovely journals you use to keep? You still have those?" Darla asked.  
  
"Nope. Burned them all a few years back." Jack said lying.  
  
"Jack you are lying to me. I know when you are lying and you are." Darla informed him.  
  
"No I'm not. I got rid of them when I left CTU had no use for them anymore. I didn't want the memories."  
  
Darla nodded her head and Jim walked up to Jack. He pulled Jack's T- Shirt up so that the front of it was over his head.  
  
"This is something new Darla. You think of it all on you own?" Jack said through the shirt.  
  
"Nope. The Drazen's taught me. Looks like someone has already played with knives with you before. Darn. I was hopping to be the first."  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you." Jack answered.  
  
"I guess I'll have to make up for it." She put a black bag she had in her hand on a table. "Jack my love do we really have to go through all of this?"  
  
"Minds as well. You look bored and I'm not going to tell you anything." Jack  
  
She walked up to Jack and with the scalpel she grabbed off the dresser she made an incision just above he left nipple, than above that.  
  
Jack screamed out in pain. She continued to make little incisions until she reached about number twenty. Jack's chest had these three or four centimeter long cuts and blood was seeping out of them. "Hurt like hell doesn't it. I got something to make it better." She walked over to the table and grabbed a bottle of hydrochloric acid. She walked up to Jack and began to poor some out on his chest.  
  
He screamed in pain. The acid burned at him. In the cuts if felt like someone was literally sticking thousands of hot needles on the inside and outside.  
  
"Jack were you really addicted to heroin a few years ago? You do seem to have that addictive personality but I never figured you for a druggie." She walked over to the closet and pulled out a towel. She wiped the acid off of Jacks chest. Even though she wiped it off it still burnt. "Come on Jack tell me something and than we can spend some time getting to know one another." She pulled his shirt back down from his head.  
  
She could see the pain in his eyes. In some ways it hurt her to see the one man she had ever loved in pain, but at the same time she felt like he was repaying her for leaving her behind and the hell she went through after he left. She went to her bag of goodies again when someone knocked on the door.  
  
Jim opened the door and the man outside said, "Our guests are here. They would like to make sure you have him." The man said looking at Jack.  
  
"Give me a few more minutes and than lead them down here." Darla answered back.  
  
She looked at Jim and said, "Hurry up and make some more bruises so it looks like we have been really interrogating him."  
  
Jim walked up to Jack and smashed him in the head with a gun. This did not knock Jack out because it was not heavy enough. But it did cut his eyebrow open and blood was coming out of it now. The man hit Jack some more until he was satisfied that Jack was stunned enough and looked beaten enough to make it believable.  
  
Jack was confused by her command and the sudden rush of beating the crap out of him, but he did not say anything. He was not expecting what happened next. She walked up to him and smacked him in the back of the head hard with her gun. This sent Jack into unconsciousness.  
  
As Jack sat unconscious the door opened and in walked a woman followed by two men dressed in black suits. The woman looked at him and said, "He looks worse than he looked earlier. His daughter is looking for you along with his partner, I think his name is Chase."  
  
"They won't find us. Six boats like ours left at the same time. There is no way to track us."  
  
"She might have a lead on you. They called CTU and spoke to an Almeida. The partner said he knew you from Kosovo. How did they find this?" the woman said.  
  
"Probably the journals he kept. Very few people know about them. That is what I have been trying to get from him. I'll call my contact and have him pick them up. Don't go near the apartment. It is probably being watched by CTU."  
  
"I didn't one of my sources live next door." The woman said. "He even helped her move in. He never noticed her. It was really funny." The woman answered.  
  
"I'll have the journals in my possession soon and than I will give you the information as agreed upon."  
  
"Than why don't you dispose of him before anyone finds him or he has a chance to escape."  
  
"No that was not the deal. I told you he does not die. I will keep him in my possession until he can no longer compromise you. He does not die."  
  
"Fine for now. But you know you cannot keep a man like Jack Bauer in your possession."  
  
"I can. I know him."  
  
"I know that. And that is why I don't trust you."  
  
"That is why this ship is full of your men and only a few of my people. I have very few loyalties left with this man. He lost family over it too. Everything is square now."  
  
"I have lost family, and have had to deal with him rejecting me over and over. My friend would not want him to live. He is too dangerous."  
  
"What will make it square?" Darla asked.  
  
"His death."  
  
"We had a deal though."  
  
"I know. I will settle for watching him in extreme pain."  
  
"Deal. Jim go get some water to wake him with. And bring back the wood burner pen, and a baseball bat." Darla ordered.  
  
Jim left the room and returned a few minutes later with what Darla asked for. "Would you like to have the honors?" Darla said handing the woman the wood burning pen.  
  
"Thank you. Wake him up please."  
  
Darla poured the bottle of water on Jacks head.  
  
He snapped awake shaking his head trying to get the water off. He blinked a few times before he could keep his eyes open. When the blurriness finally went away he was shocked by what he saw. Kate Warner standing in front of him with an instrument he knew well. The look of confusion showed on his face.  
  
"Hi Jack. Surprised to see me huh. Funny little world it is. Could you cut his shirt off please?" She asked looking at Jim.  
  
Jim stood over Jack with the scalpel and but his shirt up the center. He pulled the material to the sides and walked away. He hated the smell of burning flesh and wanted to leave the room, but did not communicate this to anyone.  
  
The woman Jack knew as his once girlfriend walked up to him and pushed the hot pen like object to his chest. Jack's eyes bulged and he screamed in pain. She held it there for a minute, pulling it away she made a comment about the smell and how much she liked it. She put the hot object to him three or four more times. Jack lost count and was only focusing on the pain he was feeling. When she was done she looked at Darla and said, "What else?"  
  
"I knew you would ask. Jim pick him up." Darla ordered  
  
Jim walked over to Jack and grabbed him. Pulling him up from the chair Jack stood and looked at the bat that Darla had at her side.  
  
Darla walked up to him and swung hard hitting him in the knee. Jack screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Jim was not expecting to have to hold Jack up and when Jack went down he was not ready to hold him up.  
  
Darla ordered, "Pick him up again."  
  
She handed the bat to Kate and said, "Three hits. That is all. More than that and you'll probably kill him."  
  
Kate took the bat and swung hitting Jack in the ribs. Jack screamed in pain. She swung again and connected with the other side of Jack's rib cage. Each time she broke one or more ribs. For her last swing she connected with his chest. Jacks eyes bulged and he screamed in pain again. Jim let Jack fall to the ground. When Jack hit the ground he began to gasp for air.  
  
Darla stood back up and she hid her fear for the man. She worried about him and wanted to take the pain he was feeling away.  
  
Kate walked up to Jack and kicked him in the mouth. Jack's head flew to the side and he spit blood out onto one of the guy's in suits shoes. This pissed the guy off so he kicked Jack in the side and wiped his shoe on Jack's pant leg.  
  
Darla said, "Enough. I will call you as soon as we have the information."  
  
"Good." Kate paused for a moment and looked down at Jack who had nothing but pain showing on his sweaty face, she spit on him and said, "I hope you die painfully one day." She walked out of the room followed by her two guards. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
Chase and Kim reached the Marina and began to ask all of the people they could find if they had seen someone like Jack or the woman recently. Some said they had seen the woman, but were not sure which boat was hers and others hadn't seen either. When they reached the last boat the person said yeah, he saw both of them and they took off on a yacht. Not sure which one it is because there were around six of the same model that took off at the same time, but they might be able to get something from the harbor master if they can find him, though he probably is out cold being a Friday night and all.   
Kim asked, "Is there any way you might be able to take us to a few of the boats. It's my father and I'm worried about him."   
The man looked at her and said, "I can't tonight, but if you come back tomorrow I can. I have no fuel on-board. I just got back from going to the Bahamas."   
"Thank you. What time tomorrow?"   
"How about around noon?"   
"Thank you very much, Sir."   
"No problem young lady. Anything I can do to help. You seem to care about your father very much." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------   
Jack lied down on the ground still in pain. His breathing was almost normal but it hurt to breathe. His body ached and his mind tried to focus, but his eyes kept closing trying to go into a slumber. He willed his body to keep awake.   
Darla noticed the struggle Jack was having to stay awake and the pain he was in. She walked over to her goody bag and grabbed a bottle of a clear liquid and a syringe. She walked up to Jack who tensed the moment she touched him. "Jack if you want, I can give you this it'll take your pain away?"   
Almost non-audible Jack mumbled, "No don't. Please."   
"Fine. Jim help me get him on the bed. Then go outside and make sure no one is coming."   
The two struggled to pick up Jack and carry him over to the bed. When they got him there they gently laid him on his stomach. Darla uncuffed one of his hands and used that cuff to cuff him to the bed. She rolled him over on to his back and said, "I'm sorry."   
Jack looked at her in confusion. He did not know why she was sorry.   
A phone began to ring and she jumped at the sound. She was not expecting her cell phone to ring. It was for only emergencies. She answered it, "Darla."   
"Darla it's the President. Did everything go fine? Is Jack ok?" The president said in a worried voice. He was the one who gave the go ahead on using Jack. He was worried that something might have happened that Darla couldn't stop.   
"He's alive sir. As you know we had to make it look like we were really trying to get information from him, and as discussed there was only one way. But when the people got her, she refused to allow him to live unless she got some sort of payback. She wanted to see him in extreme pain. I had to let her do some things in order to gain her trust. He's alive and breathing." Darla tried to explain.   
"God. Will you be able to keep him alive long enough to get enough information to find out what you need to?"   
"Yes sir. I have to go. If someone gets in, no one will live." Darla said as she hung up the phone.   
Jack looked at her. He was truly confused as to what was going on. Darla took her hand and pulled her black sweater up so that it was covering her hand and she wiped the blood away from Jack's face. "Sleep now. I'll explain later. I will be here when you wake up."   
Jack looked at her confused, but his body could no longer stand being conscious so he closed his eyes and fell asleep.   
Darla walked out of the room and told Jim, "Watch after him. Come and get me when he wakes up. I'll be in my room making some calls." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
David Palmer was worried. He originally did not want to use Jack without telling him, but in some ways he had to. He was pissed at Jack when he found out about his journals, but what did he expect? Jack had kept them safe and only a few people actually knew about them. When it came down to it the information in the journals were worthless to anybody. The stuff was done and over, and that did not prove that any of these events actually occurred. Palmer looked at the NSA director and asked, "Do you think she can pull this off, and keep herself and Jack alive to tell about it?"   
"Sir, she is our best. Jack trained her himself. If anyone could do it she could." The NSA director said like a father would have when his daughter raised to the top of the business world. That's what intelligence community was, business. It was a cutthroat business, and failing meant death. Everyone who entered knew it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------   
Chase and Kim drove to Kim's apartment. When they entered Chase looked around to make sure no one was their and all the windows were secured. After that they sat down and watched TV together. Kim laying her head on Chase's shoulder. Chase raised his hand and ran it through Kim's hair. At around 1:00 in the morning, Kim finally fall asleep, and shortly after Chase joined her in sleeping.   
Kim woke up suddenly startling Chase. She looked at the clock on the TV and saw it was nine in the morning. She got up and went to take a shower. Chase went and started to make breakfast so that when Kim got out of the shower he would have the food ready.   
When Kim came out of the shower she suddenly felt hungry. She smelled what Chase was cooking and complimented him on it. Chase was a great cook. Kim devoured her food and waited for Chase to get ready. She was anxious to start looking for her father. She called CTU and told Tony where they were going out on a boating trip, just in case they needed them. Chase was always on call so when he was going to be away from home for long periods he usually would call in. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------   
Jack woke up, and started to cough. Each cough caused him to grimace in pain. Every little movement of his body sent pain through it he sat up and looked around the room. He was still on the boat and still in the same room. He noticed the man Darla called Jim sound asleep in a chair. Jack looked at his chest and ribs, they were all sorts of purple and blue. Looking at them made them hurt more. He tried to block out the pain, and when he finally go his mind to focus on something else, he noticed how hungry he was. At that thought the door opened and Darla walked in.   
She smiled at him and said, "Nice to see you are awake." She went to Jim and gently shook him awake, "Jim why don't you go sleep in a bed, I can take over the watch for a few hours."   
While Jim left the room Darla walked over to Jack and began to examine him. "You have some broken ribs, and you'll need some stitches, but you'll live." She said knowing she had to explain what was going on.   
"That's fine and dandy, but what the hell is going on?" Jack said remembering her conversation with the President.   
"I'll tell you when the time is right. Are you hungry?" She said avoiding answering his question.   
"Yeah." Jack said knowing that he couldn't get the answer to his question until she was ready.   
"Good. I'll go make something to eat." She said leaving the room. While she was gone he tried to find something to free himself. He didn't like being held as a prisoner. He hated not having control of the situation, and he did not have control of anything right now.   
She came back with a bowl and a cup in her hands. "I hope oatmeal is ok. We don't have much of anything else." She said handing him the bowl.   
He took it from her and set it on his legs. It was hard to try to eat trying not to let the bowl fall and use his one un-cuffed hand to scoop up the oatmeal.   
She noticed the struggle and asked, "Do you want me to help you?"   
"No. I got it." Jack said. He didn't want her help. "Are you going to tell me what is going on?"   
"Later. Wait until Jim gets back. Eat first." Darla said still postponing the inevitable. "Your daughter is beautiful." She said trying to make small talk.   
"Thank you. Is she okay?" He said with the note of worry in his voice.   
"Yeah. Jim dropped her off at her car and then she went to CTU, left with her boyfriend and from there I'm not so sure." Darla was lying because she didn't want him to know she had read his journals.   
"How do you know all of this?" Jack said, wondering if CTU had yet again another mole.   
"Don't worry. I have someone looking after her to make sure nothing happens to her." Darla said trying to reassure him everything is fine.   
Jack was almost through is oatmeal. Darla looked at him and asked, "What happened that day?" Both of them knew the day she was referring too.   
"I don't know. Somehow they got an upper hand." Jack said, really not knowing how he survived or how they knew his team was there.   
Neither spoke for awhile. She stared at him eating. Inside she felt joy at seeing him alive. He was her first love. She still loved him. When he left she was hurt, not only physically by the Drazen family, but mentally. Somehow she got it in her head that he was going to take her with him, and leave his wife in the U.S. for her. Now she knew better, she knew he cared for her, but that was in another land and another time. They were different people now.   
Jim knocked on the door before he entered. "I decided to just take a shower. I'm not real tired right now." The truth of the matter was that he didn't like to leave her alone with Jack. He knew what effect Jack could have over her, and he worried about her. She was after all the only person in the world he trusted.   
"Thanks Jim. I hate doing this, but you know. . ."   
Jim cut her off and said, "I know. I'll cover the hallway again."   
When he left the room and closed the door Darla took a deep breath and started to think about where to start. She didn't know where to start so she got up and ran to her room grabbing the box that Jamie brought back with her last night.   
When she entered the room again Jack had set the bowl on the dresser next to the bed and was waiting patiently for her to speak. She took out a few of the contents of the box and Jack noticed them automatically.   
"How did you get those?" He said.   
"One of my people picked them up last night. This is part of the equation. A few months ago word got out that there might be somebody in the government who had taken it upon themselves to create, no develop terrorist groups. Some of these groups were recruited and made to attack the U.S., like the nuclear bomb incident, so that someone or something could prosper more. We aren't sure who it is, but we had this chance. I was approached by a woman and asked for help. They know I was close with you and you had these journals and other things they wanted, and not only that, but information worth a lot. They wanted me to get these from you so they could use them later to sell things, and possibly get control of you. They tried with Kate Warner, but you didn't take the bait. After they approached me I spoke with someone I know and trust and he kept it to himself. He went to the president secretly and got his permission for this operation. No one but the President, him, and my team know about this operation because this group runs high in the government. The president originally didn't want to use you, but we had no choice. So I had to make it look like I captured you, and the only way to really get you without worrying about someone hurting you was to get you to come with me willingly. You would do that if I had your daughter. Than I had to make it look like we were trying to get information out of you and the rest you know." She looked at him and tried to read some sort of emotion off him. She saw the anger, and at the same time understanding in his eyes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------   
Kim and Chase were on their treasure hunt. The boat owner had been ready for them like he said. Chase took some equipment he carried on him with him, binoculars and other useful things. They both thanked the man and started to look for any sign of Jack.   
Kim was anxious to find anything. She had talked with the Captain who had contacted the coast guard and other places in help of finding out about the location of the ships and when they had taken off possibly. He told her his son worked for the coast guard so he could easily get that information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------   
Tony and Michelle were back at CTU another day there. It always felt like they practically lived at CTU. Tony lost count at the number of nights he has spent at CTU. He sat at his desk tired wishing he was back home asleep or watching the Cubs. Michelle ran up with two cups of black coffee.   
She handed Tony his and sat down, "Where do we go from here? We have no leads as to where Jack is."   
"I need to call the president and see if he can get me the information I need." Tony said taking a drink of his coffee. He sat his mug down and picked up the phone. He dialed the number to the presidents phone.   
"Hello, it's Tony Almeida director of CTU. I need to speak to the president about Jack Bauer." Tony said hoping to get through.   
A few minutes later the president got on the phone, "Mr. Almeida. How may I help you?"   
"Sir, Jack was grabbed last night and I have a possible lead on who grabbed him. Chase thinks it is a woman he trained over in Kosovo." Tony didn't want to give the president all of the facts of the situation because he was worried that it might get Jack in trouble.   
"Well Tony. I can not release that information to you. I'm sorry but we got rid of all records to deal with that time. Too much trouble could come of them. And Jack Bauer is not a CTU problem anymore. He is a civilian and this has noting to do with terrorist by the sounds of it." The president answered.   
"Sorry to bother you sir." Tony said hanging the phone up confused. Usually the President was willing to do anything for Jack. The way he snubbed Tony was really unusual, but he thought about it and the President was right. Jack didn't want their help, and it is not their problem they have to focus on other matters. Like a new terror alert that came in this morning. A group is emerging and wants to make a mark on the world by a bomb threat. Tony looked at Michelle and conveyed everything he just thought.   
She agreed with him and they both started to figure out how to stop the next terrorist threat. Michelle thought about how funny this was. Events like this has become routine to them. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6   
Jack sat up in the bed trying to figure out whether he was more surprised or more pissed off. He hated the fact that the president volunteered him without asking. Jack no longer had anything to do with what the man wanted. He stopped that when he left CTU, yet at the same time he understood why they had to do it this way, but it pissed him off that they did. The president knew how much Jack hated bringing his daughter into anything, and that is what they did.   
  
Both Jack and Darla jumped at the knock on the door. They both knew that meant someone was coming. Darla hurriedly took the food from Jack and stuffed it in the dresser drawer. She then went and sat in the chair next to the door.   
At the moment she sat down the door opened and Kate walked in, and the two guys from last night. "Nice to see you're awake Jack." Kate said when she walked into the room.   
Jack didn't say anything. He was still dumbfounded by Kate actually being here and on the other side. He never saw that coming. The fear of what happened the last time, someone who he had slept with changed sides, hit him all of the sudden.   
"Jacky, boy I got a surprise for you. It looks like Kim does take after her father. She is able to get herself into more trouble than most people. Seems little Kim went looking for daddy with her boy friend, we will call Jack Jr. Jack Jr. isn't that smart though because he walked right onto a boat and then to the boat my people were on. Funny thing is Kim noticed me and wondered what was going on. She began to ask me about you, got suspicious at something, probably the paranoia she inherited from you. Now I have your daughter and Jack Jr. here to see you. I thought you would like to see her." Kate said smiling thinking about how much fate was on her side.   
Jack blood ran cold. It was going to happen again and he couldn't do anything about it. "Kate, please don't. I'm sorry for whatever I did or didn't do. Please don't bring Kim into this. I'll do whatever you want. Just please leave her out of it." Jack said pleading with her.   
Kate motioned to one of her men who walked out of the room and came back with Kim and Chase. Both had there hands tied behind their back and gags in their mouth. "Jack I wanted you to watch as I killed them."   
Darla made a move to try to stop Kate from hurting the two, but at the moment she moved, one of Kate's guards were ready and shot her. Darla fell to the floor with a scream and laid there breathing heavily, trying not to pass out.   
Kate took the gun from the guard and pointed at Chase first. She fired two shots one hitting Chase in the chest and the other piercing his shoulder. Kim screamed as he fell to the ground. Tears were in Kim's eyes. She was scared.   
Jack was frantically trying to get his hands free from the cuff. He started to plead more, "Please Kate, don't please." If he thought he could he would of chewed his own hand off to save his daughter.   
Kate pointed the gun at Kim. She looked back at Jack who squeezed his eyes tightly closed. Trying to block it all out and will it all away. He kept repeating, "Please don't Kate, please. I'm sorry. I'll do anything."   
"Jack open your eyes or I'm going to make it very painful for her." Kate said. She wanted him to see his daughter die. "Fine, have it your way." Kate said firing a shot hitting Kim in the abdomen. Kim fell to the ground on top of Chase.   
Jack opened his eyes and had tears coming out of them. He jumped out of the bed and tried to charge Kate, but his handcuffed hand to the bed would not let him reach. He looked at her and in the coldest voice Kate has ever heard he said, "I'm going to kill you."   
"Jack, you aren't going to do anything. You have no chance or choice for that matter." Kate said looking at him smiling. Kate nodded at the two men. Both set their gun down away from Jack's reach and approached him.   
Jack was ready he was going to fight and kill both of them. The first reached Jack and caught a right hook to the nose. He stumbled backwards grabbing his broken nose. The other charged Jack and managed to hit Jack in the abdomen, causing Jack to grimace in pain and lose his breath. By the time the man came again Jack was back up ready to fight. Jack blocked his attack and returned it with a punch to the abdomen.   
The man Jack bashed in the nose walked out of the room and came back with a crow bar. The other man noticing it backed off from Jack and gave his friend room to work. The man swung the crow bar at Jack. Jack put his arm up and blocked it, but screamed out in pain as the crow bar connected with his forearm. Jack put his hurt arm against his body and was trying to block out the pain. The man came at him again this time hitting Jack in the abdomen. This hit caused Jack to fall to the ground in pain. His cuffed arm holding him off the ground. The other man walked up to Jack and punched him in the face a few times until he knew Jack was dazed enough.   
Kate approached Jack she pulled a needle out of her purse and said, "I brought something for you. I knew you'd need it Jack."   
Jack looked up to the syringe. He noticed the liquid and knew it all too well. He had broken the habit and now it was coming back to haunt him. He tried to fight it, but the two men were already holding him down. Kate grabbed a rubber band (sorry, I was not able to find out what the word was) and tied it around Jack's cuffed arm.   
Jack was fighting with all his might. He knew what the chemical would do to him and he did not want that. But we every attempt to push the men off of him or to move his body he meant resistance. His last attempt was to say, "No, please, no."   
"Jack you aren't begging are you? That is twice in one day. Maybe you have changed since you retired. But that still doesn't make up for anything." Kate said as she plunged the needle into Jack's vein. She pushed the plunger down on the needle and said, "There, you'll feel much better in a few minutes."   
The two men moved away from Jack. Kate squatted in front of him so she could look into his eyes, "Feels good doesn't it? No wonder you choose it over me. Did you ever really love me Jack?"   
Trying to fight the drug and keep his mind clear Jack spoke before he even thought, "No. Not one moment."   
"That's what I thought." Kate said looking in his eyes, "In a moment you'll feel nothing and be happy again. I wonder if your eyes will change."   
Jack could feel the drugs taking control and he kept trying to fight it, but it was like using a bucket to take the water out of the sinking Titanic. It was worthless. He finally gave in and the drug took control of his body.   
Kate noticed his body go limp and said, "Good boy, Jack. See, was that really hard?"   
The two men approached Jack and un-cuffed his hanging hand from the bed, and cuffed the other behind his back. Grabbing him one of the men carried Jack off the boat onto anther waiting boat.   
When Jack passed his daughter's body he said, "I'm so sorry." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------   
When he saw Kate and her men bringing Kim and Chase on-board, Jim took off to hide in the engine room. He knew they wouldn't care if he was still alive or dead, so he knew if he hid he might have a chance of living. The moment that he heard the other boat take off he left his hiding spot and walked into the hallway where he noticed the Kim and Chase lying on the floor, he moved Kim of Chase and felt for a pulse in both. Getting a weak response in both he moved on to Darla who had also a weak pulse. He grabbed his cell phone and called the number to CTU.   
"CTU. How may I direct your call?" A man's voice answered.   
"Um. I need to speak to Director Almeida. It's concerning a friend of his. It is very urgent."   
"Hold please." Glen said transferring the call to Tony's office. "Tony I have a caller on the phone he says it has to deal with a friend of yours."   
"Fine, transfer him through." Tony said irritated with Glen. The man just got on Tony's nerves.   
"Almeida speaking."   
"Tony you don't know me, but I have Chase and Kim here. They are both hurt bad. We are on a boat off the coast. Is there any way you can quietly get a coast guard boat here with a medical team. I have three injured. I can explain everything that has happened the past few days as soon as I can get to a safe line."   
"Is this some kind of joke?" Tony said pissed off.   
"No, it's not. Seriously if you do not do this they will die. They are hurt bad and so is Darla, she knows Jack. We had him, but they took him. This was never meant to happen. The president approved this mission. Please just get the coast guard here quietly so they don't know." Jim pleaded.   
"I'm going to send them. But you better be there when they get there, and Kim and Chase better be alive." Tony said feeling the adrenaline rush.   
He hung the phone up and called a friend at the coast guard. Tony told him to do it as quietly as possible. "I know there are three hurt people, and one that isn't. Need to make sure the one that isn't gets me on the phone as soon as possible."   
"Sure, no problem. I'm actually not that far from the boat now. We should be there within ten minutes."   
"Call me as soon as you get there and get it secured." Tony said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------   
Jack was dazed. His mind gone away, and the drug in control. He tried to focus on something, but his mind would not allow it. His mind only focused on the joy it was feeling. It was reunited with the one thing that made it at ease and happy. The image of Kim dead ran through Jacks mind and his mind quickly blocked it out. He felt like he was floating, in reality he was. He was on a boat after all, but his mind couldn't make that logical connection.   
Kate stared at Jack. She began to laugh as she looked down on him. In the back ground she could hear a debate going on between some of her men. She walked out and asked, "What is this about?"   
"Why are we keeping him alive?" One of them asked.   
Another went on to say, "Keeping him alive increases our chances of not succeeding. He has always prospered and on top of that you went and killed his daughter. We know what he did when he thought the Drazens had done the same."   
"First of all look at him. He's stoned. He can't do anything." Kate pointed out.   
"Yeah, but he won't always stay that way. He will come down." Another man stated.   
"When he does we'll have him detained. The only reason why he is alive is because the bosses would like him for something even I don't know about. They need him." Kate informed the group. "So go back to work. We should be reaching land soon anyways."   
Kate walked back and sat down staring at Jack. She hated the man so much. She spent a year of her life trying to get this man to love her. She had loved him at one time, but he just used her to feel the space while he waited for someone else. She found about his affair with Claudia while he was undercover and it pissed her off. That is when her father approached her about his CIA connection and the rumors, which she proved to be true. She had remembered his journals and had read a few of them. That is how she figured that he cheated on her. She wanted to hurt him, and she did when she killed his daughter. She saw him cry for the first time today, and it made her smile. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------   
The coast guard pulled up next to the boat and tied the boat to its railing. Six of the men jumped aboard the other boat and began to search it. When they reached the bottom of the boat they saw the bodies in the hallway. They slowly approached the room and found a man sitting next to a woman compressing a cloth to her bullet wounds. They ordered, "Put your hands up and move away from the woman now."   
The man did as he was told and said, "I'm the one who called. These people need help."   
One of the men approached the man and with plastic cuffs secured his hands behind his back. The man led him above. When he reached the top he said the boat was cleared and they have three injured. The medical teams rushed down to the injured. No one was dead yet, but all of them had lost a lot of blood. As they loaded Chase on top of a gurney, he started to convulse from shock. The men held him down and rushed him back to the coast guard boat. They loaded the three into the chopper and the pilots took off towards the nearest hospital.   
Tony's friend approached the man and asked, "What is your name?"   
"Jim. I need to a secure phone so I can speak to Director Almeida." Jim said eagerly.   
"We will get to that. First I need to know what happened here." The man said.   
"I can't tell you. It's classified. I need to speak to Mr. Almeida and if he wishes he can give you the detail, but we must hurry. A man's life is at jeopardy." Jim said thinking about where in the hell Jack was.   
Tony's friend led the man back to the coast guard boat and gave him the secure satellite phone.   
"I can't call with my hands behind my back." The man said.   
The coast guard guy cuts his hand free and warned, "You try anything and I will kill you."   
Jim dialed Tony's number and he picked up on the first ring. "Almeida."   
"Mr. Almeida, my name is Jim. I called you earlier."   
"What happened?" Tony said worried. Now knowing that Kim and Chase were in fact injured.   
"A few months ago, it came to our attention that there was a problem with something. Darla, the other woman that was injured, told her boss at the NSA of the problem. He in turn went to the president who authorized the mission. We were to kidnap Kim Bauer and make it look like we were using her to get Jack to come alone. Once we had him we let his daughter go. We then were to make it look like we interrogated him, but got nothing from him. We would get our information from his journals in turn we would find out who the woman was working for in the government, hopefully bringing down the mole and the people responsible for the nuclear bombing a few years ago. You can call the President and he should confirm this." Jim said in a flat tone.   
"Where is Jack at now?" Tony asked.   
"I don't know. When I saw the woman enter with Kim and the other man Chase I hid myself. I knew nothing was going to work and I figured if I lived to tell about it we would have a lead on the people through the woman. Jack knew her. He called her Kate." Jim said.   
The name made Tony's blood run cold. "Are you sure that was her name Kate? What did she look like?"   
"Blonde hair, kind of tall, really rich looking."   
Tony cursed, "Shit. Is that all?"   
"For right now. I wouldn't trust anyone but the president and your wife on this one. These people work with the government and are the government in some instances."   
"Fine. I'm going to have the coast guard take you to a safe house. I'll be over in a hour or so to debrief you. I have to call the President first. You better not be playing with me here." Tony said as a warning. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
When the boat reached land Kate jumped off and hugged her father who was awaiting her arrival.  
  
"I was getting worried. You were gone for so long. I thought maybe something went wrong. I was getting ready to go out and look for you guys myself. The bosses were getting worried. Did you get him alive?" Bob Warner asked worried.  
  
The two men came up behind Kate with Jack, who made no attempt to fight them. At the moment Jack was on cloud nine and not coming back down. The life around him did not mean anything only this pure ecstasy feeling he got from heroin.  
  
Watching the men carry Jack to the car, "We had an opportunity and I took it." Kate said finally answering her father.  
  
"What do you mean? I though you were not going to deviate from the plan?" Mr. Warner said in anger.  
  
"His daughter and her boyfriend ran into us heading to the boat. I took advantage of the opportunity." Kate answered coldly.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I killed them both and made him watch, and made sure he was just out of reach so he could try and stop it, but fail. He pleaded like the coward he is for his daughter's life. When I shot her, he squeezed his eyes close like a coward."  
  
"They are not going to like this. It is going to take a lot more work to keep him contained." Mr. Warner said, "And deviating from the plan might have caused some problems. No innocents were supposed to get killed, just Darla and her men."  
  
"It was always going to be hard to control him. This had to be done. He deserved it, look what he did to our family, to Marie, to me. He used me and then cheated on me. Now let's quit debating it and get him in the car before the drug wears off."  
  
The two men had Jack in the car. One of them sat in the back with his gun pointed at Jack awaiting any sudden movement. The other man sat in the front ready for anything. They both had been warned about Jack and his capabilities, and they were not going to allow him to get the better of them.  
  
Jack lay on the floor of the limo on his back. If he were actually able to feel pain he would have complained about his current position. Lying on his back was added to the pain of the already too tight cuffs. His mind was slowly clearing and he began to remember the feeling of coming back to reality. It did not physically hurt, but mentally it was like losing everything again. All the pain came rushing back as if it were the first time he felt it, he lost the happy feelings and would be jilted back into the world of pain again.  
  
Kate looked at Jack and noticed the alertness slowly coming back. She knew his alert look. When they were together she always saw his eyes searching the crowd, listening for a noise, or anything in that manner that was dangerous. He was the angry cobra and was always ready to strike out. The only time he was ever relaxed was when he was asleep. He tried to hide all of this, and he was good at it, but once she got close to him she was able to notice the differences. When she saw him all of the anger came back and she wanted to see him in pain. He had hurt her so bad after a year of trying to get to him, and he acted as if that year meant nothing.  
  
Now at Mr. Warner's house, the man in the front exited the limo with the driver. Each man opening up the door of the side they were on.  
  
Kate and her father each exited the car through the left door, which was the one closest to the house. The man left in the back got out and began to pull Jack out by his legs. Once he had Jack out of the car the other man began to help him carry Jack back to the pool house that was also a guest house. Once inside, they went to the basement room that normally held the chemicals for the pool, but Mr. Warner had recently hired an outside company to take care of the pool so he no longer needed to store the chemicals. The men laid Jack's immobile body on the cold cement floor.  
  
As the men laid Jack on the floor Kate walked into the room and ordered, "Secure his feet with some rope. Make sure he is very uncomfortable."  
  
One of the men walked to the back of the room to a work table that had various instruments on it. He grabbed the rope on the table and tied it tightly around Jack's ankles and then took the extra and pushed Jack's legs back so that they were barely touching Jacks butt. He took the loose end of the rope and tied it tightly around the metal chain between the cuffs. He had it so that as Jacks legs tried to relax they would pull on the metal chain, which would in turn pull on the already too tight cuffs. -------------------------------------------------------  
  
Tony waited on the shore for the coast guard boat to dock. Patiently he waited wondering what has happened and who is behind it this time. How could Kate be behind it? Was she like her sister and actually a part of the Second Wave organization?  
  
The boat finally docked and Tony's friend walked Jim down the walk to the dock. "Hey Tony, so you don't call me for like five months and then out of the blue you hand me a huge mess." Tony's friend said.  
  
"Ian. I'm sorry. I had no one else to turn too. How did the injured ones look?" Tony asked worried about Kim and Chase.  
  
"They all have a fight ahead of them. I wish them luck." Ian answered.  
  
"I'll take him off your hands. If you need some information for your report call me at CTU." Tony said referring to Jim.  
  
"Sure, no problem." Ian answered letting Jim walk towards Tony.  
  
Tony escorted Jim back to the SUV and opened the back of the car helping Jim get into the back, where Ryan Chappelle was already awaiting him. Tony did not want him to come along, but the only way he could get Chappelle to allow him to investigate the situation was if he tagged along. Chappelle wanted to make sure it was not just an investigation to find Jack, but the people responsible for the shootings. Tony was surprised that Chappelle had even allowed CTU to try to find Jack because he usually would be accusing Jack of jumping the fence and going to the other side. Chappelle was one of the many people who did not like Jack for multiple reasons. The reasons differed among the people the most popular would be his history of turning those in who took kick backs, and his ability to get things done.  
  
Chappelle started to try to interrogate Jim, "What is your name?"  
  
Jim politely replied, "I will not talk to you. I mean no disrespect, but I do not know you or now if I can trust you. I will only talk to Tony Almeida."  
  
"How do you know you can trust him?" Chappelle said trying to antagonize Jim.  
  
"Because instead of more of her goons showing up the coast guard did." Jim answered in a flat tone.  
  
Chappelle face flashed with anger for a moment. Tony sat in the front trying not to smile.  
  
When they arrived at CTU, the three men entered through the back and went into one of the back rooms. Tony was taking all of the extra precautions because of the possible threat of moles and government traitors. If there was a threat, the people always had a way into CTU Tony had began to think. Paranoia was always a good thing in his business.  
  
In the room Tony stood against the wall and looked at the man. "So talk. I got you out of there tell me something that will help me find the people."  
  
"May I see proof that you are in fact Tony Almeida?" Jim answered.  
  
Tony pulled out his CTU identification. and held it up for Jim to examine. "Happy now. Talk. My friend picked you up with two of my best people hurt, so it is not looking good for you right now."  
  
"Have you called the President yet?" Jim asked.  
  
"No. I need to know if you are wasting our time before I will do that."  
  
"I'm sorry about your people. This was not supposed to happen. We never expected them to want Jack or try to kill us nor for the two to come along."  
  
"Why don't you start from the beginning and we can go from there?" Tony asked patiently.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
The drug finally was wearing off. Jack could feel both the mental and physical pain again. He felt the pain of the cuffs digging into his wrists as his legs tried to un-flex and lay on the floor. The memory of watching Kim came back and all Jack wanted to do was kill Kate and everyone else. He no longer had an allegiance with anyone. The president had put his daughter and him in harm's way without asking, Kim was dead, and Jack could not let that go without paying him back.  
  
Kate walked into the room asking mockingly, "Comfortable?"  
  
Jack did not look at her nor acknowledge her in the room. If he would have looked, she would have noticed the pain in his eyes and the anger that ran through him.  
  
"Jack, are you not talking to me again? Is this going to be like our relationship? Are you going to hide inside? Nope, I don't think so. This is because you won't be able to hurt me this time, and hiding inside won't be easy because you are about to become very uncomfortable. I am getting all I lost because of you back. My sister is no longer the super psycho Muslim. She still has her Muslim believes, but she is less likely to follow the Koran. You see you took that out of her. The rules now only apply in certain situations. She cannot wait to see you again. She'll be here after the CTU people leave. I know they will be here to look for you and me. The funny thing is that I am in Brazil right now. Having my fingerprints scanned in, they will only have records of me traveling around Brazil, perfect alibi."  
  
Beingonfused Jack held onto the hope that maybe Kim survived, "How are they going to trace all of this back to you first, to know to search the two houses?"  
  
"Darla's friend, Jim hid like a coward and Tony got to him before my men could. He is spilling his guts at the moment." Kate answered not letting on the fact that she failed at killing Kim, Chase, and Darla.  
  
The hope left Jack quickly. He moved trying to make his legs come closer to his body to try to stop the cuffs from digging into his wrist, but the muscles were fatigued and starting to burn. Jack could feel the warm blood trickle down his wrist.  
  
"It hurts, doesn't it? Every muscle in your legs burning, and the cuffs making your wrist burn and slowly cut off circulation to the point that your fingers start tingle. The warm blood from the cuffs cutting into your wrist slowly dripping down your arm."  
  
Jack tried to ignore her and also did not admit that he in fact felt all of this. "So are we just going to sit here and you torment me by talking to me and tell me what a horrible person I am?"  
  
"Possibly. I kind of enjoy this. Almost as much as I enjoyed watching you squeeze your eyes shut while I killed your daughter, like the coward you are. I find it really funny that you can look death in the face, and you can walk into situations where you have about a two percent chance of surviving, but the thought of opening up or looking at your daughter before she dies makes you cower away. At the same time you are afraid to be alone. You have run from woman to woman in your life. First Teri, than Darla while you were Kosovo, back to Teri, than when she got tired of you, ran to Nina. When Teri took you back you ran to her, then Nina killed her and you ran into me. When you were away from me and undercover with the Salazars, you ran to Claudia. Can you really not be without a woman? Are you really that weak?"  
  
Jack's face flashed with anger and the mention of his daughter's death. He fought with the cuffs to try to free his hand or just move enough. The image of him slowly killing Kate came to mind and yearned for the moment.  
  
"Oh, I hit a nerve. Surprised you still have them. I thought you were almost like a robot. You see America calls the Jihad fighters crazy and brainwashed because they can kill others without feeling bad. But look at every good American soldier, such as yourself, how many people have you killed? How many women and children have died because of you? Does that ever bother you? And how could you be pissed at Nina, Drazen, or me for killing your family? You killed or injured some of mine and Drazen's family, and Nina was doing her job, just like you."  
  
Unable to contain his anger anymore Jack yelled out, "The difference is that all the faces of those people who I have killed haunt me. Even those I enjoyed killing. And in return I have pain more than enough. I lost my wife, unborn child, and now my only living child. I have sacrificed everything to save others, and I always try to do things so I do not have to kill people or harm them, but that is not the way the world works. Some people have to get killed and I have only killed a few innocent people. How many innocent people did the Jihad fighters kill, or Drazen? How many innocent people was your sister going to kill? Remember her putting the gun to your head and getting ready to pull the trigger? I remember it because I shot her to save you."  
  
"But then you used that pain to get information from her."  
  
"If I had not done that, millions of people would be dead today, including you and your family." Jack answered back.  
  
Kate walked up to him and pulled his head up by his hair. She looked in his eyes and for the first time since she knew him she saw them full of pain and anger. She let go of his head and walked over to the corner were there was a chair. She sat quietly listening to his breathing slowing as the adrenaline had sped it up. She watched him slowly struggle to keep his legs close to his body, and yet failed each time. -----------------------------------------------  
  
Tony called the President and he confirmed most of the information and sent his condolences for the injured people. Tony called in Chappelle and told him he need to get warrants to search both Warner homes and find the whereabouts of Kate Warner. Chappelle told him he would call a judge friend of his and get the warrants. Tony called in two S.W.A.T. teams to help with the search and then walked down to Michelle.  
  
"Michelle, I need you to quietly look up the whereabouts of Kate Warner. Is she at home, has she been to work? Any travel that has been unusual? Anything." Tony asked.  
  
"Sure. I assume you are leaving otherwise you would do this yourself. I'll call you the results." Michelle paused, "Be careful Tony. Too many people have been injured already."  
  
"Don't worry. I will be careful, call me if you hear any information about the injured people." Tony did not want to think about them so he did nor refer to them by name. With that Tony took off towards the equipment room. He wanted to get a bullet proof vest and brief the two teams. He would go with them to Kate's house first and then drive over to Mr. Warner's. He hoped to find Jack at one of them, but he doubted it. ------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Palmer became worried when he found out about Jack's daughter. He knew what Jack was capable of, and he had unintentionally put Jack's daughter in danger. On top of that he felt bad for it. He should have known better. Jack would never forgive him, at the same time any hope of finding the people in his administration that are dirty or in the CIA or NSA were slim. He decided to call in the cavalry. The one person he could always trust to find out who was against him. He dialed the number he had memorized, "Sherry, it's David. I need your help again." He said when she picked the phone up.  
  
"I'm in California right now David. I can't really get there to talk to you." Sherry answered.  
  
"I'll brief you now. As you know I have people in my administration working against me, and now there are some possible CIA and NSA people that are against me. I need your help to find them. Please do whatever it is that you do. I know I have asked a lot of you recently, but the one plan I had just failed, and I need your help."  
  
"David you know I will help you whenever I can. I'll start to look into it." Sherry answered, still the devoted wife, even if she was the ex- wife. "I don't know if I can find the CIA and NSA agents, but at least the people in your administration and then I can go from there."  
  
"Do you still have your bodyguards?" David asked worried about her well-being. He knew her looking into it would bring her into possible danger.  
  
"Yes. I know they are loyal to me too, so don't worry about extra protection." Sherry said, knowing what her ex-husband was thinking. -------------------------------------------------  
  
Jack was still on the floor and his hands had become numb. His eyes were watering from the pain of his burning muscles in his legs. Kate stood up and grabbed a knife off the table she held it to where Jack could see it and walked up to him. She could sense his body tensing getting ready for her to do something to cause it pain, but she did the opposite. She cut the rope tied to the cuffs free. His legs flew to the floor and relief started to come over him. She paged someone on her cell-phone and a few moments later, one of the two guys entered the room.  
  
"We need to move him back to the back room so they won't find him." Kate said walking over to the shelving unit and pulled it out.  
  
The man dragged Jack into the room and laid him on another cement floor. Kate walked in the back with him and ordered the man, "Close it behind you and make sure you cannot see any light coming out from the bottom of the shelves."   
When the shelves closed, Kate sat down on the floor Indian style across from where Jack was lying.  
  
"You knew they are going to find this room?" Jack asked with satisfaction in his voice.  
  
"No they are not. This is outside of the house foundation. They have no way of knowing it exists. No floor space was lost, and the light is blocked off. They are not going to find you Jack. No one is going to find you until we let them." Kate said with the satisfaction of being able to break every hope Jack had. "Oh, and don't try anything when they get here because this room is sound-proof. When my father had this place built, he had the builder secretly build this room for himself. He had a place to hide and play his guitar without bothering anyone."  
  
Jack lay on the floor, and thought to himself, at least my legs aren't tied to the cuffs anymore. The pain was slowly subsiding, but he knew that it would not all go away. His calf muscles were probably pulled and that would cause problems with escaping. -------------------------------------------------------------------  
Tony arrived at Kate's house. He and the team began to search it. It took them only ten minutes before they knew no one was there. He ran back outside and hopped in his car and drove the twenty miles to Mr. Warner's house. Last time he was there he had broken off the wedding of Marie and her fiancé, who she had killed later that day.  
  
The other team had just arrived and was getting ready to conduct their search. Mr. Warner was more than happy to oblige. "You know my daughter is not here. I haven't seen Marie since the day at CTU." Mr. Warner answered making it seem he was assuming they were looking for Marie who had recently broken out of prison.  
  
Tony looked around and walked back to the guest house. Mr. Warner followed him into the basement. Mr. Warner explained the emptiness of the room, "I recently switched from having a private pool man to a company to handle it. The old guy stored all the chemicals down here, and since I don't need them any more I got rid of them. I gave them to the man I fired. He was screwing up the pH and other things all of the time, and I could not allow that to continue."  
  
Tony's cell-phone rang. "Excuse me please." Tony said as he took it out of his pocket. He answered it, "Yeah?"  
  
"Tony, Kate is in Brazil according to their records and ours. She has been there since sometime last week. Traveling around from city to city, they even have her on the new finger scanner. There is no way she could have done any of this."  
  
"Are you positive?"  
  
"She has spent money on her credit card and we have her finger print in the system and it matches what Brazil sent me."  
  
"OK. Maybe he was mistaken. We'll be back soon." Tony said before he hung up his phone. He looked at Mr. Warner and said, "Sorry to disturb you sir."  
  
"No problem. Anything I can do to help my country."  
  
A though occurred to Tony and he decided to ask Mr. Warner, "Are you still freelancing for the CIA?"  
  
"Yeah. I wanted to quit after the thing with Marie, but I felt like I had to do so much more to make up for it, so I didn't quit."  
  
"Thanks for your time. And I'm sorry about all this." Tony said walking out of the basement. 


	8. Chapter 8 REVISED

Chapter 8  
  
"Is this all about me cheating on you?" Jack asked. "Because if it is, grow up. Was it really that horrible?" Jack continued asking while trying to hide the anger in his voice.  
  
"No Jack. It is not all about you cheating on me. A group of powerful people want you to be detained for a while and gave me, my family, and a friend some time to repay you for all your kindness." Kate answered calmly.  
  
The shelving unit pulled back and in walked in the woman Jack knew as his new neighbor. The shock registered on his face and he quickly made it disappeared. "Hey Jack. You seem to remember me and you are wondering why the hell am I here? That is simple. You killed my father." She walked up to him and looked him in the eyes, "Do you know who my father was?"  
  
Jack looked at her and tried to picture a face close to hers, and he kept coming up with nothing.  
  
"You might know him as First Sergeant Brice Gardener."  
  
Jack began to protest, "I did not kill him. Drazen's men did during a covert operation."  
  
"Yes but you told Drazen about it and set the mission up to fail." She said looking him in the eyes. "You had to because you were the only one that survived and that was weird considering my father had made it through worse situations and come out with prisoners, but this time he died. You had to of sold them out."  
  
Jack tried to begin to protest again, but he was met with a punch into the back from the woman he knew as Amber, "Shut up. No use in denying it because you know you did it, stop lying!" Amber looked at Kate, who called one of her men down through the page in her father's cell-phone.  
  
The men came down grabbed Jack and walked him into the other room. They had already put a plastic tarp down on the floor and had a chair sitting in the middle of the room on the plastic tarp.  
  
At the sight of the plastic tarp Jack knew he was in trouble. They planned on making this messy and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tried to fight them, but it was worthless the most he could do was try to kick them, and that was worthless because his legs were still tied together. They had him in the chair and there was nothing he could do. The two men walked over to the back of the room and leaned against the wall and sat back to watch the show.  
  
Amber walked up to Jack and said, "By time I get done, you are going to tell me what happened that day."  
  
"I'll tell you now. We went on a secret mission to stop Victor Drazen before he became a huge problem and could fly away. I chose your father and the other team members and went into Kosovo as a Delta team. We parachuted in and the two separate teams of us went to where we were supposed to be. I painted the target with the laser and the plane bombed the sight. When we were going back to the L.Z., I went in search for the others and found most of them dead. Somehow Drazen's men were able to lock on our radios, which they shouldn't have been able to do, and were able to locate us by that and they killed most of the men, they jammed our system so we could not communicate with each other or the people back in the U.S. We were running blind. I was lucky enough to get out alive. The others were not, and you know it bothered me because you have to remember me visiting your mother and telling her what happened unofficially."  
  
"The reason why Drazen's men were able to lock on was because you gave them the information." Amber said being pissed off. She walked up to Jack and punched him in the face splitting his lip. A person could look at her and assume she was unable to do any damage, but like her father she had a slim build and the muscles she had were hidden.  
  
Jack's head turned with the force of the punch. He spit blood out on to the tarp and looked at her, "I'm not lying." But every time he protested her she hit him repeatedly. After her hand started to hurt, she looked at one of the guys and asked, "Do you want to help me? I need to put ice on my hand for a few minutes. Stupid bastard's face is hard."  
  
One of the men took over continually hitting Jack in the face. Blood was pouring out of his mouth, nose, and his eyebrow had a cut above it. Kate interrupted the guy and said, "One more hit, let me do it." She walked up to Jack and he noticed the diamond ring on her ring finger. She hit him in the side of the head and the ring ripped the skin open and more blood poured out onto his face.  
  
Amber walked up to him. She looked him in the eye and he said, "I did not give them anything. I am sorry about your father, and I would love to know who sold us out so I could kill them, but it wasn't me." With every word more blood poured out of his mouth. The rusty taste of blood made him feel sick to his stomach.  
  
"Marie should be here any moment so get whatever you want in. When she gets here, she has a complete rule over him." Kate said to Amber.  
  
Amber walked up to Jack who head was hanging down. Blood was dripping off his face onto his bare chest. She pulled his head up by the hair and looked at him, all the pain and anger in her eyes, "Why won't you tell me the truth?"  
  
"I already have. I'm sorry if you don't believe me, but that is the truth." Jack said looking back in her eyes and his eyes were sincere.  
  
Amber walked over to the counter and found a bottle of ammonia setting on the counter. She walked over and took the cap off of it. She held it up for Jack to see, "Last chance before I pour this onto your arm, tell me the truth."  
  
Jack looked at her and as earlier he said, "I already have. The people you want are probably the people you are working for."  
  
Amber took the bottle and had one of the men pick Jack up. She poured the contents onto Jack's bleeding wrist. Jack screamed out in pain, as the ammonia was burning the cuts. He had felt the pain before, and that was only a small amount of ammonia on a small cut, this was a large amount on a deep incision. Jack's breaths were coming quickly and he was gasping as he was in a large amount of pain.  
  
At Kate's order the man took the cuffs off Jack's wrist and put him back into the chair. Jack was holding his wrist close to his body trying to ignore the pain he was in. The other man walked up to Jack and ripped his arm away from his body and used rope to tie his arm to the chair arm and did so with the other next. When he was done, he walked back to the back and continued to enjoy the show.  
  
Amber walked up to Jack who was still trying to block the pain out, and was still gasping for breath. She grabbed his left middle finger and said, "Unless you want it broken tell me the truth."  
  
Jack looked at her and with the sound of pain in his voice he said, "I already have."  
  
She pulled his finger back until she heard it break. Again, Jack screamed in pain. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on something else, but the pain from the cuts to the broken finger ran through his mind and he tried to control his breathing, but the pain over took everything.  
  
Marie Warner walked into the room and said, "It looks like you started the party without me. Hey Jack, you don't look too happy to see me, at least not as happy as I am to see you."  
  
Jack did not answer her, he looked up at Amber who was still standing over him and said, "I am telling you the truth." Through the pain on his face he had still the sincerity in his eyes.  
  
She grabbed the finger she had just broken and yanked on it. He screeched in pain again. Amber looked at Marie and said, "Have fun. Please try to get the truth out of him for me."  
  
Amber walked and leaned against the wall next to Kate. She did not take her eyes off of Jack. She was not sure if he was telling the truth or not, but she was sure he deserved what he got. Her father had died and he was still alive, something is not right there. He should have died too.  
  
Marie pulled Jacks head up by his hair and asked, "How are you Jack?"  
  
He glared at her, but did not answer her.  
  
"Good. That's great. I'm peachy now. I'm free and get to get revenge on the man that tortured me a few years ago. I really could not ask for more." Kate said with a smug look on her face. "Fine enough with the pleasantries. Let's have some fun." Marie walked out of the room and returned with an air nail gun.  
  
She walked up to Jack and pointed it at his shoulder, "This is going to hurt like a bitch." She pulled the trigger on the gun and a nail sailed out and shot through Jack's left shoulder into the chair, pinning his shoulder to the chair. Jack shrieked in pain and tried to not pass out. He was breathing heavily.  
  
"Oops. Did not mean to pull the trigger. Did that hurt?" She said grabbing the nail head and began to move it back and forth opening the hole more. Jack screamed in pain as she did so.  
  
She took the nail gun and pointed it at his left hand, "So were you lying to Amber?"  
  
Jack looked at her and said, "No." His voice was quiet held the notes of the pain he was in.  
  
She pulled the trigger on the air gun and another nail sailed through the air into his hand, pinning it to the chair. He screamed in pain as his eyes bulged in pain. He kept trying to ignore the pain, but he knew it was useless. The more he tried to block it the more painful it got. His mind was clouding over with pain and at that moment he wanted to be able to run away.  
  
Again, Marie took the nail and began to turn it while it was still in his hand, Jack screamed in pain and than passed out. Marie smiled in delight at him.  
  
Kate looked at her and said, "Let him rest for a bit. Dad would love to see you, have you seen him yet?"  
  
"No. I'm starving too." Marie answered.  
  
"Let's go get something. Amber can you stay here with him and get us when he wakes up? I'm sure Mike and Nate would like to rest some, since they have been working all day." Kate inquired.  
  
"Yeah no problem. Why don't you give me the cell phone and I'll page you when he gets up." Amber answered back.  
  
Kate tossed her the phone, and Kate and Marie walked back to the house with Mike and Nate in tow.  
  
Amber looked at Jack as he slept. She wondered why he would not just tell her the truth and be done with it. It made no sense.   
  


* * *

  
Tony sat at CTU and something bothered him. He had a thought when he asked Mr. Warner if he still worked for the CIA, but he was not sure what it was that led him to ask it. It was just there on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't think of it. It was irritating him. He walked into the conference room that Jim was sitting in. "Mr. Warner freelances for the CIA, and I can't think out why I found that to be important. Do you see what I am missing?"  
  
"He freelances meaning?"  
  
"They use his company to send funds to things like Darla and the Kosovo resistance people and other things like that." Tony answered.  
  
"Maybe someone in the CIA or NSA is using them to pay the informants or possibly get money from the terrorist who buy the information or something like that." Jim answered.  
  
"Possibly, but that doesn't explain why they grabbed Jack or tried to kill the others anyways." With that though Tony cursed at himself and called the hospital to check on Darla, Chase, and Kim.  
  
When he finally got on the line with a doctor the doctor said, "Are you a family member to any of them?"  
  
"No. I'm the director of CTU and I need to know their status. Two of them are my friends and my staff. I need to know their status though."  
  
The doctor decided to bend the rules and said, "Ms. Bauer is still a little rocky. She lost a lot of blood, and so did Mr. Edmunds. Both of them are still not out of the dark, but if I was a betting man, I would say they will pull through as long as no major complications occur. The woman, Jane Doe, is stabilizing. She should be able to move in a few hours. I have been told as soon as they are capable you want them moved to your clinic correct?"  
  
"Yes. If you will please, call me as soon as any of them is okay for movement and me and a team will pick them up. Until then, I want to send over five or six agents to watch them. It is important that they live." Tony said.  
  
"No problem. We have them at the same hallway and you can post your men anywhere you would like. I'll have the nurses make a list of people who visit the other patients on the floor and your men can check the people in and out." The doctor said.  
  
"Thank you."  
  


* * *

  
Sherry had been on the phone for the last hour calling everyone she knew and just trying to get reacquainted with everything that was happening. She got a big lead, the secretary of the CIA director said that he had recently spoken with a Mr. Warner, whose daughter had recently escaped prison, and that there is a rumor that Mr. Warner has something to do with the kidnapping of the man Jack Bauer." Sherry thanked her and called David. She shared what she had found out and asked him to try to get the funding sheet for the CIA and the recent statements from both Warner's personal accounts and business accounts. Most people thought that stuff was unobtainable, but the nice thing with the new threat to America was that the President could give the go-ahead for that information to be collected off any computer system and the different agencies that have the people capable of doing it.  
  
The President called Tony and asked him to get the information and then forward it to him. He knew he could trust Tony, and Tony knew he could trust Michelle to get the information for him. He told the president he would get her to do that as soon as possible. Tony called Michelle and told her what he needed her to do and she said it would not be a problem.  
  
It took Michelle a half-hour to get the information without leaving a trace. She called Tony and asked him where he wanted it sent.  
  
"Send it to me, and then to the president via his email account." Tony answered.  
  
Tony walked across the hall and grabbed a laptop out of the tech room. He brought it back to the room and he and Jim began to study the documents that Michelle had sent them.  
  
The President waited for the email and than called Sherry to tell her he had the information. He forwarded the documents to her and she thanked him telling him she thought she knew what she could do next. She hung the phone up and called a friend.   
  


* * *

  
Jack's eyes snapped open and when she saw he was still in the chair and there was still a nail in him he closed his eyes again, hoping it was all just a dream. When he opened them again he knew he was only kidding himself with hoping it was a dream. He looked around the room and made eye contact with Amber who was sitting in the corner of the room staring at him. Jack moved a bit and grimaced in pain.  
  
"Why won't you just admit that you set the guys up?" Amber asked staring at him.  
  
"Because I didn't. I swear to you. I would never have done that. Why would I have taken some of my best friends in with me, when I was going to set the mission up to fail? Why did Drazen come after me and my family if I helped him? And if it was so planned how come his wife and daughter were killed in the explosion. I am truly sorry that I lived and your father died, but I cannot change what happened. I wish I knew who set us up to fail because I would personally kill them, but I don't know." Jack said sincerely.  
  
Amber stared at him a little longer and she could not figure out if he was lying to her or telling the truth. He did not do anything that made it look like he was nervous and lying, but he was trained not to do those things.  
  
Amber grabbed the cell-phone and paged Kate and Marie to let them know he was awake again. A few minutes later the women came in with Mr. Warner. Mr. Warner looked at Jack and grimaced as he could imagine what pain the man was in.  
  
Marie walked up to Jack with a hammer in her hand. She held it up to him and dug the nail remover into his skin of his shoulder as she attempted to pull the nail out. As she did he screamed in pain again. When she finished she said, "See, that wasn't that bad was it?"   
Jack was breathing heavily. Trying to hide the pain in his voice he said, "No I've felt worse."  
  
"That's good news, then we can continue." Marie answered back. She grabbed Jack's left ring finger and pulled it back slowly until she felt it break.  
  
Jack screamed in pain and started to breath heavily again. He began to count the number of broken bones; he knew he had two broken fingers, possibly something in his shoulder, a bone in his hand, and ribs.  
  
"Ouch. That look like it hurt. You are the best torturer what do you think I should do next Jack?" She asked him. "It seems my sister already killed someone you loved, we've broken bones, put holes, and by the smell of things used chemicals. Ah, we need fire. Hold on, let me go see what I can do about that." Marie said walking out of the room.  
  
Kate and Mr. Warner were quietly debating in the corner of the room. Mr. Warner was not so happy with all of the damage they were doing to Jack because he was not sure what the bosses wanted with him. "He will be fine. They said they need him alive and conscious other than that, they were not to specific." Kate said to ease her father's worries, she went on to say; "They will be here in a half hour so it won't matter. She cannot do to much more damage."  
  
Marie returned with the poker stick from the fireplace up stairs. It was still heated so that the end was a glowing reddish orange color. She looked at Jack and said, "How about another tattoo." She took the poker and placed it against Jacks chest. She held it there and could smell his flesh burning, hearing him scream excited her, she turned the poker so that she left a huge burn mark on the middle of his chest.  
  
Mr. Warner smelled the burning flesh and gagged at the smell. He tried to hold down the food he just got done eating. The smell always got to him. It smelled worse than anything he could imagine.  
  
Jack tried to focus on something else, remove the pain from his brain, but it was not working. He had given up on trying to prevent the pain he was in from registering on his face. He was right now on the border line, ready to just give up and stop trying to fight. The memory of his daughter rushed back and at that moment he gave up. He did not care what they did to him anymore, he sort of wished for death, a painful death. All he had done in his life was kill people, and it came back to haunt him and kill his daughter, wife, and unborn child. Maybe everything he has ever done was wrong. Maybe Kate was right and he is as bad as the people he fights against. Barely coherent he said, "I'm so sorry Kim."  
  
Kate saw his lips moving and noticed the change in his body. He no longer looked like the rough unbeatable Jack Bauer, he looked like the tired old man who is on his death bed and just realized his entire life was a lie.  
  
Marie walked up to him and asked, "What was that Jack? What did you just say?"  
  
Jack did not answer her nor look her in the eye. He was beaten and she knew it. At this moment everything he had done in his life had come rushing back. The face of every person he ever killed, and those who he had failed to save like his wife, and Kim. The pain he caused people, all the torture sessions and the years of pain, the double crosses and everything just rushed back and he wished he were dead. He wanted death; he had become the thing he was fighting against. To fight monsters, you need monsters, he had always disagreed with that until now.  
  
No one spoke for a moment. They all stared at him as if he were going to repeat what he had said, but he did not. "Jack, you still with us?" Kate asked from the corner worried about the sudden calmness that had come over his body.   
  


* * *

  
Sherry got off the phone from her friend and called her ex-husband, "David, you owe me big time on this one. Mr. Warner works for the CIA director Dante. They have something on the side going on. The rumor is that they use Warner's company to launder money from some terrorist organizations. Since it was just a rumor, I had my friend check on the transaction that happened last year between the organization and second wave. We originally believed that somehow Warner's daughter Marie had done it, but there was no way for her to do it. She had to be in her father's office and have all of his access codes, and there is no way she could have done all of those things, and he did not notice this large sum that was transferred to the company he did not know. My friend is looking into it some more, but he thinks that it was Dante and other business men paying for the action second wave was taking. If they had been successful a group of businessmen as well as the CIA and NSA would have prospered off it. The budgets for these organizations would have gotten bigger to help them fight terrorist. Like after 9-11 and the FBI."  
  
"I need solid proof before I can do anything. I cannot just go in blind accusing. You were in it last year what do you know from it?" David asked Sherry.  
  
"I was not that far in it. I knew Kingsley was involved, but I was positive he was not running things. He was not smart enough for all of that. I'm not sure who it was, but it makes sense to me." Sherry answered her husband.  
  
"I need proof. Where is Mike Novick at? Would he have any information?" David asked.  
  
"I don't know if he would. I think he was recruited at the last moment, but it would not hurt to ask him."  
  
"I'll call him and see if he will come in. Maybe he will give me information."  
  
"I have another call coming in. I better answer it, might be my friend."  
  
"Thanks Sherry."  
  
David Palmer hung the phone off and asked his secretary to find the number for Mike Novick. He called the Secret Service head, Erin, in and told him he was expecting Mike Novick to show up here soon and for him to escort him in.  
  
Palmer's secretary came in over the communication system and told him, "I'm connecting you with Mr. Novick."  
  
When he heard the line click off he said, "Hello Mike. How are you?"  
  
Taken back by the President calling him Mike answered, "Um, fine Mr. President."  
  
"That's good Mike. I was hoping that you would be willing to come to the White house and speak to me about something that is very important."  
  
"Sure, Mr. President. What time would you like me to be there?"  
  
"As soon as possible Mike. How about a half hour?"  
  
"I'll leave now sir."  
  
"Thanks Mike."  
  
Mike hung the phone up and wondered why the President wanted to see him this late. Had he finally come to his senses and decide that he wanted Mike back. Mike felt bad about turning on him a few years back, but he had the country's best interests in mind. Mike was hurt that he was the only one excused from his position when Prescott had been the one who planned the entire thing from the beginning before he even had Mike recruited he knew what he wanted. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
Marie walked out of the room, and Mr. Warner followed her. She was not sure where to go from there. She had expected him to do something anything that would make the torture more enjoyable, but it was not what she wanted. It did not fit the dream; it was not what she expected. She wanted him crying and begging and he was not. He sat silently staring at the wall. She walked back in the room with a plastic bag in her hand.  
  
Kate saw her sister and asked, "What is that for?"  
  
"You'll see. Where is the duct tape?" Marie asked.  
  
"Over on the table."  
  
Marie walked over to the table and grabbed the duct tape. Everyone in the room knew what she was going to do and no one tried to stop her. She put the bag over Jack's head and dug taped the bottom sealing it off.  
  
Marie sat back and watched in satisfaction. It took only a few seconds before the air was all out of the bag and Jack started to struggle against the ropes to free his hands to try to rip the bag off. Marie continued to watch in satisfaction as Jack struggled more and more desperately trying to find a way to get the bag off to breathe oxygen again.  
  
Kate ran up to him and began to rip the bag before her sister could fight her. "God Damn it Marie. We can't kill him." Kate said getting ready to fight her sister.  
  
Jack sat in the chair gasping for air. His face was red and his chest heaving with every shallow breath.  
  
Marie walked up to him with a scalpel in her hands. "Now that was fun wasn't it Jack. Funny to see you fight for your life and yet unable to save yourself. I wish I was there when you could not save your wife or your daughter; would have been interesting."  
  
She took the scalpel and cut the ropes away from Jacks arms. Jack did not have the energy to fight or even move. He tried to push himself up from the chair, but his body would only acknowledge the attempt with a rush of pain. He had no will left to fight; he had nothing left to live for, so why bother. He sat in the chair and said nothing. He hung his head in defeat.  
  
Marie bent down and cut his feet free, "Get up." She ordered. He just sat there like he had been and did nothing. Marie grabbed a fist full of his hair and said, "Get up now."  
  
Jack slowly stood; the pain ran through his body. He gritted his teeth to take the pain. Marie wanted him to fight to do something to make this more enjoyable, but he just stood there teetering back and forth.  
  
"Jack are you ready to join your wife and daughter?" She asked trying to get a spark out of him. She continued, "It must have been one hell of a scene to see you just sitting there letting Kate her kill your daughter. I heard you did nothing."  
  
Jack moved faster than a man in his shape should have been able to. He was on Marie before she could even comprehend he was coming at her. He had his hands around her throat and was squeezing tightly. Looking into her bulging eyes, he could see the fear. She could see the cold sociopath that lived in everyone coming through Jacks eyes.  
  
Kate tired to pull him off her, but she could not break his grip from around her sister's neck. Marie was scratching at him trying to make him stop, but Jack did not feel any of it. He had one thing on his mind and nothing else mattered.  
  
Amber ran over to the table and grabbed the only weapon she could find, the air nail gun. She yelled at Kate to move and she aimed at Jack. She fired and the nail went sailing through the air into the lower left side of Jacks back. His grip loosened for a moment. Just long enough for Marie to take another breath, than her wind pipe was quickly closed off again by his hands.  
  
Getting desperate now to save her sister Kate grabbed on to the nail that was sticking into Jack and pulled it out. This time Jacks body finally began to feel all of the abuse it had taken and his grip was released and he fell to the ground grabbing his side. Blood oozed out of the small hole covering his hands. He tried to stand up again to continue his quest to kill Marie, but Amber ran up and with all her might kicked him in the rib cage sending him back to the floor.  
  
Marie was on the ground gasping for air. Kate went over to help her up and as soon as she was able to breath without gasping she walked up to Jack who was on the floor still and kicked him in the balls. Jack moaned in pain and rolled over onto his stomach.  
  
Marie walked over to the chair and sat in it. "Mother Fucker almost killed me." She was still stunned by the events that occurred. "He is a psycho mother fucker."  
  
Mr. Warner walked in with three people. Kate recognized one of the three. Mr. Warner saw Jack on the floor and Marie in the chair, confused as to what was going on he asked, "What happened her?"  
  
Amber noticing that the others were there and said, "Marie learned why you don't play with him."  
  
"Mother Fucker almost choked me to death. He wouldn't have stopped if they hadn't shot him again with the nail gun."  
  
The woman that came in with Mr. Warner laughed and said, "Why did you let him free? Are you that stupid?"  
  
Marie Warner was pissed at this woman laughing at her and got up and went to fight with her when her father stopped her, "Marie I would not do that if I were you. This is Mandy."  
  
Marie stopped in front of Jack who was still on the floor in pain. She was pissed so instead of picking a fight she had a thirty percent chance of winning she kicked the immobile Jack Bauer; who just groaned. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---  
  
Tony and Jim were looking over the spread sheets and data from Warner's company and nothing was sticking out besides the transaction from a few years ago. Tony called Michelle and asked, "Can you check out all of the companies on the thing you sent me about Warner and see if they are all real. Try to find something with it. I need to call the hospital again and see if I can't get Kim, Chase, and Darla transferred to our clinic. I don't like having them in the hospital; it's not as safe as it could be."  
  
"Yeah. Be careful Tony." Michelle said worried about her husband. She was not sure what she would do if something happened to him. That is why she loved it when Jack worked at CTU because Jack would always go on the dangerous things and Tony would stay back. She knew it was wrong of her to be happy that Jack would put himself in danger, but Jack chooses too, and Tony might choose to but she loved him. Jack was just a good friend. She began to worry about Jack. No one had heard from him since earlier and by the sounds of it he was not in the best of situation, if what Jim was telling them was true.  
  
"I will be don't worry honey. I'm going to take a team with me. I'm going to take Jim with me incase Darla is awake. I don't want her to clam up." Tony said.  
  
"Fine. Call me when you get there and when you are on your way back."  
  
"Sure. Good bye."  
  
Tony got up and he and Jim walked down the corridor to the team that was at Mr. Warner's house. "Guys I need you for awhile longer. I want you to come with me to pick up the three injured people and than I would like you to add to the security of the clinic. As you know Jack's daughter Kim and Chase were injured, along with another person. There safety is the most important thing to us right now."  
  
The drive over to the hospital was uneventful. Tony half expected rockets and anything else because this was yet another one of those days where nothing ever goes right. Nothing works out and someone always has to get hurt, someone other than Jack. At the hospital he talked to the doctors responsible for the three injured people. Each person was in critical condition, but should make it. After a short argument with the doctors, Tony was able to get them to allow the three to be transferred to the clinic at CTU. ----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Jack was still on the floor. And softly cursed as he thought about how all the woman of his life where now coming back to haunt him. He half expected Kim to jump into the mix, but she was dead, and with this thought he closed his eyes and wished for death. He had no right to be alive, when he had aided in the death of the two people he loved most in life. With this thought he struggled to stand up. He slowly pushed himself up so that he was on his hands and knees. With the aid of the wall he pushed himself into a standing position. Noticing his movement the women and Mr. Warner looked over at him.  
  
Mandy looked at him and said, "Nice of you to join us Jack."  
  
Jack glared at her. He took a few tentative steps towards her when the men she brought with her walked over to him. When one of them got close enough for Jack to be able to connect to him Jack threw a punch. The man was not expecting Jack to be able to stand without using the wall to balance so he was not ready for Jack's punch and was taken off guard. Jack connected with the side of the mans head stunning him. The next man came at Jack who ducked out of the way of a punch and returned it with a left uppercut to the jaw. Jack grabbed his left hand in pain. He had forgotten about the hole in it and the broken fingers. He could only focus on the pain for a moment because the other man was coming after him again.  
  
The man connected with a right hook to Jacks head. The punch hurt, but it was not hard enough to stun Jack. Jack acted like he was going to fall down and instead threw a punch hitting the man in the abdomen and Jack finished him off with a right uppercut to the jaw knocking the man back onto the floor. The other man was still on the floor; Jack thought he might have broken the man's jaw.  
  
Before he could celebrate he had Mandy to deal with. She and Amber were coming towards him. Jack knew there was no way he could take both on at one time with one hand. When Amber reached him she tried to hit him in the shoulder but Jack caught her hand with his left hand. His face showed the pain, but his mind did not register it. He took his free right hand and blocked her left punch and than sent his elbow into her head. Stunning her enough to send her to the floor.  
  
Before he could react Mandy had managed to hit him in the head. Her punch had enough force behind it that it sent Jack's head back into the wall. Before he could react again Mandy had sent a quick combination of left and right punches to his abdomen. The punches sent Jack to the ground gasping for air. A moment latter Kate was standing over him repeatedly kicking him in the head, arms, legs, abdomen, anywhere she could hit him at.  
  
Jack used his arms to cover he head, but all they did was soften the blows. After what seemed like forever Mandy pulled her away from Jack. Kate fought her, but there was no way she could have won against Mandy, and if they did they would have server reparations for it.  
  
Jack rolled over onto his stomach and tried to not pass out. At that moment Marie came up to him and kicked him hard in the back. Jack groaned in pain and Mandy looked over from where she was holding Kate back to see Marie standing over Jack pulling him over to his back. She bent down and hand her knees resting on his chest as she had her hands around his throat squeezing it tightly. "Don't like that do you." She kept saying to him. Jack tried to fight her but his vision was blurring and his eyes were watering from lack of oxygen. He tried to move her hands from his throat, but even when her grip loosened he still found it hard to breathe because she had all her weight on his chest.  
  
Noticing that he was about ready to pass out Marie got off him and said, "That's what you get." She than spit on him. Jack lay on the ground trying to breath. Every breath was a tease to his lungs that were dying for more oxygen.  
  
Mandy let go of Kate and walked up to Jack. She helped him stand and with most of his weight on her she said, "We'll be leaving now."  
  
Mandy allowed the two men she brought with her to take on helping Jack out to the car. She followed closely behind. Amber came running up behind them, "Can I come with you?" She needed a new job and this woman she knew of and respected.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Amber. I helped get Jack originally. I actually came up with most of the plan."  
  
"No. I'll keep you in mind though." Mandy said trying to be nice.  
  
The men had Jack loaded into the SUV. Mandy hopped in the back with one of them. She knew what Jack was capable of, he took Ira Gains down not to long ago, and not to long ago he successfully stopped the attack her boss's had planned. He survived the Salazar's and killed Nina Myers last year, all while dealing with a drug habit. She was not going to fail this one. She had only failed once in her job, and that was not really her failure, she was just associated with Gain's failure. They had forgiven her though, and she knew she was untouchable because of her ability to do what others could not do. As she sat in the SUV with Jack between her and one of the men she took her phone out and called the number she was given, "We have it. Go in. Kill them all."  
  
They sat out front of the house and Jack could see through the front window men in swat gear rushed the Warner home. A few minutes later it was quiet. He continued to look on in wonder, it some ways he was hurt that Kate was most likely dead, but in others he knew if they did not kill her he would of eventually. With that thought he saw the woman he knew as Amber come out with a man in swat gear at gun point. Kate trailed behind her clearly wounded.  
  
Mandy looked at the man in the front and told him, "Get out and deal with this. I want the women alive."  
  
The man got out of the SUV and looked at Amber, "How in the hell did you manage that?" He asked in amazement.  
  
"I know what I'm doing. Now you are going to tell your boss that Kate and I are walking out of here, alive. That is it." Amber yelled back at him.  
  
"Give me a second to have a talk with her." The man answered.  
  
He walked up to the SUV window. Keeping her gun on Jack Mandy said, "Tell her if she still wants a job it's hers, and we'll let Kate go with the promise she'll never speak of this, we'll kill her later of course. CTU knows of her involvement or will after they find the bodies."  
  
The man turned from the window and said, "You still want the job?"  
  
Amber surprised at the offer yet still kind of cautious answered, "Yeah as long as neither Kate nor I get killed."  
  
"Than we have a deal?"  
  
"I guess so." She said pulling the gun away from the man. She stepped away from him and waited for something to happen.  
  
Mandy took her gun off Jack and fired out of the open window hitting the man in swat gear in the head. Jack jumped at the sound of the gun so close to his head. When he jumped Mandy had the gun back on him already, ready to shoot him if he tried to escape.  
  
The man looked at Amber who stood in shock and said, "You coming?"  
  
Amber followed him down to the SUV and hopped in the passenger side. She looked back and did not know what to say or do. She was still shocked.  
  
Mandy stated, "Never send men to do a woman's job. Isn't that right Jack?"  
  
She said nudging his hurt shoulder with the barrel of her gun. He clinched his teeth in pain. He did not answer her; he was trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this mess. He knew that short of a miracle his body would not be able to carry him away from it there was to much damage done. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
Tony sat in Kim's room looking at her. He was not sure what happened, but he knew this would kill Jack if he knew. Kim was alive, and would live, but the thought that she got hurt again because of him would hurt Jack. It hurt Tony because after Teri's death and all of the things that have occurred over the years, he began to care about Kim as a good friend. She and Michelle really began to get along after the incident where she shot Gary Matheson. Michelle was the one who comforted her all those days visiting Jack in the hospital, and Kim actually moved in with her while her father was in the hospital. Jack did not want Kim to stay at his apartment alone, and when Michelle offered, Kim was more than happy to accept.  
  
The person that was going to wheel Kim out to one of the three awaiting ambulances walked into the room. Tony had it set up to where a person would accompany each of the injured back to CTU. This way, nothing could go wrong on the trip back. Tony chose to go with Kim, and the others he choose. He chose the men he knew he could trust. Jim would go back with Tony and Kim. Darla was awake and Tony was not sure if he was telling the truth yet so Tony wanted to keep them separated so that Jim cannot tell her what he told Tony. He did not know Darla personally, but if Jack trained her, Tony knew she was just as dangerous as Jack.  
  
He walked out with the man to the ambulance, ever alert for any trouble. Jim was already in the ambulance waiting for Tony and Kim to join him. When they got Kim in the ambulance Tony sat by her, holding her pale hand. He was not sure what to do, and it hurt to see her hurt. He just sat there and held her hand praying for everything to work out and go back to what had become normal.  
  
Kim awoke and she felt someone holding her hand. Barely audible she said, "Dad?"  
  
Tony jumped at hearing her voice. He was not expecting it, "No. It's me, Tony."  
  
"Where's my dad?"  
  
Tony knew that was coming and he was not sure how to explain it to her. "We don't know, Kim. We're trying to find him. What is the last thing you remember?"  
  
"Chase and I were out on a boat with this man. He offered to take us out the night before when we were asking around the Marina to see if anyone had seen him. We met him the next morning and he took us out. We stopped at a few boats and I asked if they had seen my dad, I had a picture and all of them said 'no.' We approached this one boat and I saw Kate on it. I knew she would have remembered seeing my father so we pulled up by them and I yelled 'hello' over to Kate. Oh god!"  
  
"What Kim? If you don't feel like doing this now we don't have to." Tony said worrying about her.  
  
"A man on the other boat killed the man that took Chase and me out. I froze in fear. I never expected Kate to be . . . She already had a gun on Chase so he did not have time to react. They pulled the boat over next to the one we were on and ordered us to get on their boat. I was so scared I didn't know what to do so I stood there. Then Kate said, 'If you ever want to see your father alive again I recommend you listen.' I knew she was not lying. Her voice was too cold to be lying. I looked at Chase and he knew what we had to do. We got onto the other boat, and the man cuffed us and taped our mouths shut with duct tape. They put us in the cabin of the boat and it seemed like forever before we stopped moving and got onto another boat. I could hear my father begging for her not to kill us. She shot the woman, Chase, and then she tried to get my father to pay attention to her while she shot me. He charged her, but his hand was cuffed to the bed, and the bed was the type that is attached to the wall. He kept trying and trying, but he could not get free, and then she shot me. I hit the ground and I could feel the blood drain out. I closed my eyes and I don't know what happened next."  
  
Kim began to cry and Tony sat there holding her hand, his heart breaking for the girl he once knew to be carefree and happy. He remembered hearing her argue with Jack the few times she would show up at CTU asking for something. He would sit in the bullpen area hearing them yell and seeing Jack pace his office. She always got her way with Jack, she knew how to get to him, and she could play Jack like Hendrix could play his guitar, tweaking everything just right to make it all work out. He started to say, "It's okay Kim. Don't worry we will find him and everything will be ok. You know you're old man is tougher than nails. Nothing can stop him, especially Kate." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Jack was not sure how long they had been driving. His mind was on the verge of a mental break down. His body craved rest and even though his brain told him, it would not be good to sleep right now. His body took over shutting his conscious mind off and he slowly fall asleep. Every now and then he would jump back into consciousness, but his body would go back, and finally his mind gave up the battle and he fell asleep in the SUV with a gun pointed at him.  
  
Mandy looked at him and noticed the struggle. Each time he would jump awake she got tense ready to fight him. She knew she could not kill him. The bosses did not want that. He was too valuable. She was not sure why they had him go through Darla, Kate, and now this. Why didn't they just jump and get him themselves? On the other hand, by doing this, they were able to dispose of the loose ends they had wanted to dispose of for some time. Marie, Mr. Warner, Darla and her team, in the end they took the long route, and kept CTU out of the loop. If they only knew who was behind it all and what was really going to happen later. She smiled to herself and let herself relax some as she could see Jack was clearly in a deep slumber. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --  
  
Mike Novick arrived at the White House. After going through all of the security he was escorted to the oval office. It was unusually quiet at the White House, he thought to himself. When he walked into the room he said, "Hello Mr. President."  
  
"Hello Mike. How have you been?"  
  
"Good. Thanks for asking sir. How can I help you?"  
  
"Mike, when the nuclear bomb day happened did you know the people involved?"  
  
"Sir, I was recruited by Prescott that day. I did not know what was going on. I had no clue. Now that I look back I know what I had done was wrong, and I am sorry about that sir." Novick said trying to let the David know how he really felt.  
  
"I believe you, Mike. Did Prescott say anything or do anything you thought was ever out of the ordinary?"  
  
"No sir. I originally believed he had the country's best interest at heart."  
  
"But not now?"  
  
"No sir, I don't. After we were sure Kingsley was involved I went back and looked at the connection. I knew Kingsley had been acquainted with Prescott before. I think that Prescott knew all along about Cyprus, sir. I have no proof other than my gut feeling."  
  
"I need proof Mike. Will you please work with Sherry on finding the evidence? I need it before I attack him, and I need it fast before they do whatever it is they are up to this time."  
  
"Where is Sherry now, sir?" Mike said willing to do anything for David. He owed this man so much, and he did not do it right the first time he had a chance to pay him back.  
  
"Making calls somewhere. I'll call her to find out." Palmer grabbed the phone and dialed the number to Sherry's cell phone. When she answered he said, "Sherry, where are you at?"  
  
"I'm outside of the Warner home. Looking for something. It's all quiet."  
  
"What? You shouldn't be there. If they are up to what we think they are, you are in danger." David said worried.  
  
"Don't worry. I have two of my guards with me. Everything is fine. We are not going in. If I see them or Jack, I'll call you and you can call CTU."  
  
"I'm sending Mike Novick over. He is going to help you. I hope that is fine with you?"  
  
"Yeah. I could use the help. Have him meet me at my house. I'm going to go back there and start making some more phone calls soon. I want to make sure nothing is going on here first."  
  
"Be careful Sherry."  
  
"Don't worry David. I have to go." -----------------------------------------------  
  
Sherry hung up the phone and got out of her car. She walked up towards the front of the Warner's house and stopped midway when she saw the man in S.W.A.T. gear on the ground with blood oozing out of what was left of his head.  
  
She gasped at first. She still was not used to seeing things like this. She wondered how people could live seeing this every day. She turned around and headed towards her car again. She still was in shock from seeing what she saw. She called David back.  
  
"David, something has happened here. I went to the house and ..."  
  
"You did what? I thought you were just watching!" David yelled into the phone.  
  
"Listen. I walked up to the house and there is a man in S.W.A.T. gear. Oh my god." She said with a picture of the man coming into her head, "Half of his head was gone."  
  
"Okay Sherry, listen to me. I want you to drive away from there and go home now. When you get home I want you to lock the doors and keep your guards on duty all night. I'm going to send some Secret Service agents over too. I never should have involved you in this."  
  
"David. It's fine. I have to find the people." She screamed in fear. Kate Warner walked up to the window of her car and began to bang on it. She was barely alive.  
  
"Sherry! SHERRY!" David shouted over the phone at her.  
  
"David I'm fine. I just got scared for a second. Call CTU and let them know what has happened. I don't think Jack is here anymore."  
  
"Okay Sherry. Get out of there and go home."  
  
"I will. Have Mike meet me. We'll make a few phone calls from there."  
  
"Fine. He'll be there in an hour or so. He has to fly from D.C."  
  
"That's fine David. I better get going." Sherry said before hanging up the phone.  
  
Kate looked at her and said, "Why did you tell him I was still here?"  
  
"You know what has happened, and I figured if I told him you would not tell me because CTU will be here soon." Sherry answered her. "Get in. I'll take you to a hospital or anywhere you want as long as you tell me what happened here and where Jack is."  
  
"I don't know where Jack is." Kate answered.  
  
"Then tell me what happened here? Who took Jack?" Sherry said trying to get any information she could.  
  
"I need to get to the airport. Start driving and I'll tell you." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------  
  
Noticing that Jack was still asleep, Mandy nudged him with the barrel of her gun. The slight nudge did not wake him so she grabbed his wounded hand and squeezed it.  
  
His eyes snapped open and he wrenched his hand back, trying not to scream out in pain.  
  
"Nice to see you're awake finally. I'm a little hurt because everyone told me what a big bad guy you are, and when I'm here, you fall asleep."  
  
Jack looked at her, with the cold stare that is his trademark, and did not answer her.  
  
"Put your arms out. I need to cuff them. I won't do it too tight." Mandy said looking at his cut wrist.  
  
Jack did as she asked, and she gently put the cuffs on his wrist, making them just tight enough so that he couldn't slip his hands out of them. The SUV stopped and Mandy took a bandana from the man in the front and turned it into a blindfold, putting it over Jack's eyes. She then told him, "Get out through my side."  
  
He slid across the seat and got out of her side with her help. When he was out he was not sure if his legs would hold him up and was happy to feel her arm under his right arm helping him along. He thought he knew she was, but no one had ever really seen Mandy before. She was like a legend. He felt himself being led into a van. Once inside she sat him down and said, "Don't speak."  
  
He heard what sounded like a phone being dialed, "We have him alive. What do you want done?"  
  
Jack tried to hear what the voice on the other line was saying, but he couldn't.  
  
"Fine, we will be there in ten minutes."  
  
The van took off towards an unknown location.  
  
Jack sat in silence wondering if he was being led to his death. At the thought of his death he felt relived. He would not have to deal with the pain of losing Kim, or with the thought of killing himself, someone else would do that for him.  
  
The van stopped and the back doors opened. A male voice said, "You screwed up, Mandy."  
  
"What? How?" The woman answered.  
  
"You left Kate Warner alive. She is with Sherry Palmer as we speak spilling her guts."  
  
"Shit."  
  
"Don't worry I'm going to fix it. You're lucky I like you so much. Who is this?" The man said looking at Amber.  
  
"New recruit. She's actually pretty damn good. She managed to get away from our tactical team and take one hostage. I made a deal with her."  
  
"Good. We need a replacement since he killed Nina last year." The man said referring to Jack. "Let me have your cell phone." The man said to Mandy.  
  
She handed him her cell and sat back down next to Jack.  
  
The man called someone on it, "Hello Sherry. You have been a busy little bee haven't you? You have someone I want, and I probably have someone you want."  
  
"Who is this?" Sherry Palmer asked on the other line.  
  
"No one important."  
  
"Who do you have?" Sherry said trying to waste time to think.  
  
"You know who I have."  
  
"How do I know you have him?"  
  
"Listen." The man took the phone and held it out towards Jack. Mandy grabbed his wounded hand and began to squeeze it. Jack screamed out in pain. "Is that good enough?"  
  
"No. I've never heard him scream before so it could be anyone. Let me speak to him."  
  
"Fine. But only this one time." The man put the phone to Jack's ear.  
  
Jack heard Sherry Palmer say, "Jack are you okay?"  
  
Showing more pain in his voice than he would of liked he answered, "Yeah."  
  
"Don't worry. I'll get you out." Sherry said as the man was pulling the phone away from Jack.  
  
"So do we have a deal?"  
  
"I need to call my husband first and ask."  
  
"Fine. I'll call you back in ten minutes. Have a decision."  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Sherry hung the phone up and looked at Kate who was sitting next to her. She dialed Palmer's number and said as soon as he picked up the phone, "I have a chance to get Jack."  
  
"How?" Palmer asked.  
  
"They want to make a trade. Jack for Kate."  
  
"But we don't have Kate."  
  
"I do."  
  
"What!?" David asked angrily.  
  
"She came up to me when I was in the car. I made a deal with her she would tell me what she knew and I'd take her to the airport, but they want to make a trade and I need an answer in a few minutes because they are calling back."  
  
"Do it." Palmer said.  
  
"Fine. I'll call you as soon as I have Jack."  
  
"Where are you at so I can send CTU there to help?"  
  
"No. If you do that they will probably kill Jack. If they wanted him dead they could have easily killed him, me, and Kate. It makes no sense to make this false trade scheme. We are all easy targets to get too." Sherry said trying to convince David that she did not need help. "Plus there is no time. If something goes wrong, I'm sure Jack can handle it." She said reassuringly.  
  
"Fine. We'll do things your way, but be careful." David said giving into Sherry. He knew he could not convince her otherwise. 


	11. Chapter 11 REVISED

Chapter 11  
  
Sherry's phone rang. She jumped out of shock. She was expecting it to ring, but it still scared her. She grabbed it and answered, "Hello?"  
  
The man's voice on the other end asked, "Do we have a deal?"  
  
"Yes, when and where?"  
  
"Just keep driving straight. At the next turn, turn left. And drive straight. I'll tell you when to stop."  
  
Sherry did as she was told. Out of nowhere, she noticed the brake lights of a van. The back door opened and she saw a woman standing in the van with a gun. The man said to her over the phone, "Don't worry. Just keep driving straight. The woman will not shoot you as long as you listen to me."  
  
Sherry drove on in fear. She saw the flash before she heard the sound. There was no sound, but the sound of the bullet going through the window hitting Kate in the head. Sherry screamed in terror as pieces of Kate's skull and brain flew onto Sherry's face. She screamed in terror.  
  
"Keep driving if you want Jack, Mrs. Palmer ."  
  
"You . . . You . . . killed her. Oh my God. You . . ."  
  
She saw the woman who shot Kate come back to the open doors of the van. She held Jack.  
  
"Would you like Jack now?" The man asked.  
  
"Please don't hurt me or him. I thought we had a deal."  
  
"Tell your husband to back off or this will happen to you."  
  
The woman shot Jack in the back, just above his heart. She let go of Jack who fell out of the van crashing into the ground. Sherry swerved quickly as to not hit Jack. She ran into the ditch on the side of the country road and began to cry in terror.  
  
Jack felt the bullet enter and exit. Then he felt himself falling, and the hard collision with the ground. He lies down on the ground in immense pain. He could feel the warm liquid pour out of the wound on his chest. He struggled to breathe and to stay conscious, but he was too tired, and all he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep.  
  
Sherry ran up to him as she hung the cell-phone up and squatted next to him. "Jack, can you hear me? Look at me Jack. Stay awake. I'm going to get you to the hospital. Jack, listen to me, you stubborn man, you cannot die now. We still have to stop the bad guys, like with the nuclear bomb. Come on Jack."  
  
Sherry dialed 911 and frantically told the operator approximately where they were at and how serious Jack was. She took her coat off and put his head in her lap. She tried to apply pressure to the bullet wound. There was already a great amount of blood on the ground. With one hand, she pressed hard on the bullet wound and with the other she gently stroked his cheek begging him to stay with her.  
  
Jack could no longer take it. He closed his eyes and the world went dark.  
  
The ambulance arrived five minutes after the phone call. Sherry was covered in Jack's blood when the medic took Jack away from her. They were frantically working on him. She was surprised they got there so fast. She got into the ambulance with them, refusing to let go of Jack's hand. When she first meant him she hated him. He expected so much from David and almost made David lose his chance at becoming president with his absurd demands for Palmer to play dead the last hours of the primaries, and she hated him even more the first few hours she met him on the day of the nuclear bomb attack. By the end of that day she had nothing, but respect for him. This man was incredible in her eyes. Not only had he been tortured less than a few hours before he got to her, he had died, yet he continued to fight on. He not only continued to fight, but he stopped a war, saved David's presidency, and her life all while on the verge of a heart attack that kept him out of work for awhile.  
  
In the ambulance, she noticed how pale he looked and she began to pray for him. Sherry had not prayed in a long time, but she felt the need to pray for a friend. One of the medics said, "Ma'am he was more than just shot. How did this happen?"  
  
"I don't. I was driving and they. . ." Sherry couldn't bring herself to say anything. She was almost in shock. She just sat there staring at Jack, praying he'd be fine.  
  
The ambulance reached the hospital. They pulled Jack out of it and the medic began to give all of the information the doctors needed. One of the medics took Sherry to a waiting room and said, "The police will have some questions for you. If you don't mind, I would like to look you over real quick. You are covered in blood, and you might be in shock."  
  
Sherry sat in a chair. The woman took her pulse and blood pressure. Everything seemed fine besides the brain and skull fragments stuck to her face and the blood over her from Jack.  
  
The police arrived and began to question Sherry.  
  
"Ma'am, do you have any identification on you?" The female officer asked.  
  
Sherry said, "It's in my purse. I left it in the car with . . . Kate."  
  
"So you know the woman in the car?"  
  
"Yes. Her name is Kate Warner."  
  
"What is your name ma'am?"  
  
"Sherry Palmer."  
  
"The president's ex-wife?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So what happened Mrs. Palmer?"  
  
"I don't know. I was looking to something for a friend and I ran into Kate. She was hurt. I got a phone call from a man and he said that he had Jack and was willing to trade him for Kate. I said I was willing to do so, and Kate was willing to. I did what the person told me, and I didn't see the van because it was too dark out and they did not have their lights on. When I got up to the van I saw the brake lights come on, and the back door opened. The back was lit up from my headlights and I saw a woman with a gun. The man told me over the phone to keep driving straight so I did, and then she shot Kate. She then shot Jack, who was in the van, and he fell out and I swerved so I wouldn't hurt him, then I called the police."  
  
"It is okay ma'am. Is there anyone who might know why they had . . ."  
  
"Jack Bauer is his name."  
  
"The man who saved your husband during the primaries?"  
  
"Yes. That is him."  
  
"Does anyone know where Mr. Bauer was before, or who I am guessing kidnapped him?"  
  
"You would have to talk to CTU."  
  
"Fine ma'am. That is all I have for now. I'll need you to come in later to give a statement, but take your time. I think I have enough to work off from here, and you look like you need some time. If you want, I can get one of the nurses to get you some clothes to change into, and a place to wash up."  
  
"If you would, please." Sherry said sitting in the chair in shock, running the events over in her head again.  
  
She heard over the public address system, "Cold Blue in the ER. All available doctors needed." Her blood ran cold. She knew it was Jack and she knew cold blue meant he had flat lined. She began to allow the tears that were in her eyes to begin to fall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Amber looked on at Mandy in shock at what she had done earlier. "Do you think that will stop them from coming after us? Investigating us?"  
  
"Probably not, but it go rid of the annoying little shit that was Jack Bauer and Kate Warner." The man in the front seat answered. "I thought you said she was good, Mandy?"  
  
"She still has a lot to learn. She will be. You know I'm never wrong." Mandy answered in Amber defense.  
  
"Sure as long as she doesn't turn out to be like the one you used with Gaines. God was she horrible."  
  
Mandy shot him an ugly look. He knew better than to talk about her. Mandy had deeply cared about her, and still mourned her death. "So where are we going?"  
  
"To the bosses and see what they want us to do next. I'm not what their big plan is, but as usual, their one-track minds want Palmer out of office. I really hope they get over that and move on. The man only has a few years left, and in my opinion he has not done that bad."  
  
"We're not allowed to have opinions." Mandy snapped at him.  
  
"We are a little touchy today. Is it PMS time?"  
  
"I swear to God if you don't shut up, I will kill you."  
  
"Fine. I'll be quiet. Damn you're no fun."  
  
Mandy stewed in the back. Ever time she had to work with this guy things went wrong or bad. The man was good at what he did, but he was too immature and just irked her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Tony left Kim's room to go see if Chase had waken up yet. When he entered Chase's room, he noticed the nurse was arguing with Chase.  
  
"What's going on?" Tony demanded.  
  
The nurse looked at Tony and answered, "Mr. Edmunds wants to get up and leave."  
  
"Chase, are you crazy? You were just wounded pretty bad earlier and now you want to get up and leave. Lie back down."  
  
"I can't Tony. Jack is still out there."  
  
"Chase, what are you going to deal with? Run up to the people and try to take them on with your injuries? You don't have a chance. Don't worry, we are working on finding him."  
  
"But you haven't found him. I promised Kim I would find him. I can't let her down."  
  
"We will find him. If you go out there we will have to focus not only on finding Jack, but keeping you safe. We need to keep all our resources on finding Jack. Chase, you know you can't find Jack on your own wounded like this. Listen to me for once and let us do it."   
Chase looked at Tony with anger in his eyes. He was tired of Tony and Jack both thinking he could not handle himself. He knew what he was capable, and he was almost as good as Jack. He knew he hadn't reached Jacks capability yet, but he knew he would one day. He learned from the best. "I've been through worse in the past, remember? I was tortured with fists and a shovel, shocked with a cattle prod, shot through the hand by Hector, and then had gasoline poured over the wound. If you're going to compare me to Jack, I'm almost the same as him. Jack would have been killed in Mexico if it wasn't for me sniping Ramon Salazar, or worse, Jack getting killed at the prison by one of the rioters."  
  
Tony looked at Chase and he could see the anger in his eyes. "I know what you are capable of Chase. But at the moment Kim needs you. She is worried sick about you and her father. Why don't you see if this nice lady will allow you to go over to her room and you can comfort her? And when we get something on Jack I'll come get you and we can go after him together."  
  
Chase looked at him, knowing what Tony had said was true. He gave up and said, "Does my sister know about this?"  
  
"No. We didn't call her. I completely forgot. You had Kim down as your emergency contact and I've been running back and forth all day. If you want, we can call her and she can bring Angela over."  
  
"No. No need to worry her. I'll go see Kim. I'm sure Angela is asleep already, and I don't want my sister to wake her."  
  
"Fine. Kim is next door. I need to go over and talk to Darla. But first run through with me what happened. Kim told me some stuff. I just want to try to get the entire picture before I go and question Darla."  
  
Chase ran through all of what had occurred over the past day. 


	12. Chapter 12 REVISED

Chapter 12  
  
Sherry Palmer walked out of the room Jack was in. She pulled out her cell-phone and called David.  
  
In tears she said, "David, it's Sherry."  
  
Automatically worried about her, he had never really seen or heard her cry before, "What's wrong Sherry? Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine. It's Jack. He's . . .He's . . ."  
  
"He's what, Sherry?" David said knowing what the next word would be, but his mind not wanting to believe it.  
  
"He's dead."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Sherry went through all that had happened leaving a few things out.  
  
"No this can't be. Damn it. It's all my fault. I have to call and tell his daughter. Oh God. His daughter." David said still in shock and denial.  
  
David hung the phone up and dialed the number to CTU.  
  
"Michelle speaking." A woman's voice answered on the second ring.  
  
"Hello Michelle. It's David Palmer. Is Tony in?" David asked in a sort of a trance.  
  
"Hello Sir. He's down with Chase and Kim. Can I help you?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Michelle. I really need to speak to Tony. Can you get a hold of him right now for me?"  
  
"Yes sir." Michelle said feeling a little jilted that the President didn't want to tell her whatever he was going to tell Tony. She put the President on hold and called Tony's cell-phone. When he answered she told him, "The President would like to speak to you. I'll patch him through."  
  
"Thanks, Michelle." Tony said walking out of the room, in which Darla was in.  
  
When he heard the phone click over Tony said, "Hello Mr. President. I'm sorry I haven't called with a report, but I've been busy interviewing Kim, Chase, and Darla."  
  
"Tony it's fine. Uh. I don't know how to say this. We found Jack."  
  
"That's great, sir, but what's wrong."  
  
"Tony, they killed him. I'm sorry. I never should have allowed this mission. He's dead."  
  
"Are you positive sir?" Tony said chocking back the pain he felt for the lost of a good friend and a great man.  
  
"Yes. Sherry was there. She was trying to make a trade and they shot him through the heart. He died at the hospital." David said with tears coming down his face, but not obvious in his voice.  
  
"I'll tell Kim sir."  
  
"Ton, if you don't mind I would like to tell her."  
  
"Sir, I don't think that will be the best course of action. You probably will have some bad words for you, and she doesn't mean it, but she will be torn. It was not your fault, sir. Jack would have done it if you had asked him, and you did not know it was going to go bad." Tony added feeling he had to relive some of the guilt the President must have had.  
  
"I'm flying into town. I will come to visit all of you when I get there. I still want to tell Kim I'm sorry. And she is more then welcome to yell at me and do whatever she has to do. I have a duty to face his family, and friends." David said, and Tony understood very well. He had visited all of the families of the men he lost on missions when he was in the Army. It was an unwritten rule that was almost always followed.  
  
Tony hung up from the President and stood in the hallway in shock. His cell-phone rang again and he answered it.  
  
Michelle asked, "What was that all about?"  
  
"Jack's dead." Tony said still in a trance.  
  
"What? Are they sure?"  
  
"Yeah. I got to go tell Kim. God Michelle."  
  
"I know Tony. Do you want me to?"  
  
"No. I better do it. Why don't you come down and aid her afterwards."  
  
"Yeah. I'll be there in a moment."  
  
Tony hung up his phone and walked into the room where Kim and Chase were in. He looked at Kim and she could tell from his eyes something was wrong.  
  
"What happened, Tony?" Kim asked scared of the answer.  
  
"Kim I just got notice that your father, we found him."  
  
"But?"  
  
"He's dead Kim. They killed him." Tony said looking down at the ground. Not man enough to look into Kim's eyes. Which he knew were full of tears.  
  
"How?" Chase asked, as hurt as Kim was. Jack was like his mentor and father figure.  
  
"Later." Tony said, not knowing all of the details. "I'm not sure of all the details. The President is coming here and you can ask him then. I'm so sorry Kim." Tony said with tears in his eyes. He walked out of the room and saw Michelle who was in the same state he was in. "I've told her." Is all he said as he passed Michelle and went into the room Darla was in. Pissed off now, he said to Darla, "You better tell me everything you know about the people who took Jack because I'm going to kill them."  
  
"What happened?" She said noticing the pain in Tony's eyes.  
  
"He's dead. And I'm going to kill them all. Tell me everything now or I swear to God you will join him."  
  
Darla answered, "I've told you everything. I'm sure Jim has also told you." She said looking Tony directly in the eyes. She felt a like someone had just ripped her heart out and stomped on it. The thought of Jack Bauer being dead hurt her worse than what she thought it would. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------  
  
After making all the preparations she needed Sherry called David back. When he answered she asked, "Is Mike Novick still heading this way?"  
  
"Yes he should be landing soon. I am on my way now." David answered.  
  
"Good. Do you have his cell phone number?"  
  
David gave her his cell phone number and said, "Sherry, you can stop if you want."  
  
"No I can't. I have to find the son of bitches that did this, and make sure they are brought to justice. Jack would have done that for you, we owe him this." She answered back.  
She hung up from David and called Mike.  
  
"Mike, where are you at?"  
  
"I'm at the airport in a taxi. I just heard about Jack. It's already on the news. Are we still going after this?"  
  
"Yeah. I need you to go rent an SUV. Drive it to the Wilton Funeral Home. I'll call you back with more information soon."  
  
Mike thought about how weird the request was, but he knew when Sherry was up to something the best thing to do was to follow through with her, and not question her because it all will make sense in the end. "Sure. I'll call you when I have the SUV." 


	13. Chapter 13 revised

Chapter 13  
Mike got out of the taxi and walked towards the car rental place. When he got inside, a nice looking woman asked, "How may I help you sir?"  
Mike looked at her and smiled, even though he felt like shit. "I need to rent a SUV for about two three days. Maybe more."  
"Do you have a preferred color, sir?"  
"Black, please." Mike answered. He liked his cars to be black. It must have been from all of the years of driving or being driven in black government cars.  
She told him his total and he handed her a credit card. A few minutes later he was in the SUV driving towards Wilton Funeral Home. When he was almost there he called Sherry.  
"Sherry."  
"What's this all about?" Mike asked.  
"Hold on please."  
Sherry stepped out of the waiting room and walked towards the morgue. She was behind the man that was wheeling Jack away. When she saw the man get on the elevator, she walked to the stairway. On the stairs now she began to speak again, "Mike, what I say does not go past you and me. Neither David nor anybody else can know this."   
"I don't know Sherry. I think David needs to know."  
"He can't. There are too many government leaks. Too many people are working against David and if they knew what I'm getting ready to tell you, they will end up being successful. David cannot know because he has to act as if all is as it seems."  
"Fine. Now tell me what's going on."  
"Jack isn't dead. He did die, but they revived him. I had all the people in the room swear that they would say that Jack died if anyone asked. I explained to them if they did not do so, his life would be in danger, by the people who did this to him. They all agreed and I don't think they would go against it. Jack is hurt badly, but the doctors are going to work on him down by the morgue just in case anyone comes looking. What I need from you is to pick him up when the funeral director takes him to Wilton's. You'll pick him up at the back of the place. I'm going to go home and you will take him to a motel and check in under your name. Once there, I'll have some guys to help carry Jack up to the room. I'll meet you there. After I'm sure everything is ok, and we can go from there. You do understand this has to work or Jack is really dead?"  
"Yes. I'll get it done. Be careful."  
Mike hung up from Sherry and drove on towards the funeral home. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
A doctor walked down to the room a nurse had prepared. He began to work on Jack with the aid of only one nurse, and Sherry sitting in the corner watching.  
The doctor was worried about Jack and did not want to go through with what Mrs. Palmer had said, but she said she had the president permission and it had to be done to save not only this man's life, but hundreds of people. He kept waiting for Jack to crash again. The man was in bad shape, and he could clearly tell someone had tortured him. Sherry looked really worried about the man. The doctor got the gunshot wound fixed and the shoulder put back in place, as it had been dislocated when Jack hit the cement of the highway. The doctor worked diligently on trying to get every wound cleaned and fixed. There were a lot of them. What he assumed where nail holes, knife cuts, burns, bruises, broken bones, and lots of scratches and deep cuts. It took about an hour to sort Jack out and when he was done he stepped aside, and the nurse began to dress the different wounds. The doctor looked at Sherry and said, "Do you have a doctor looking after him? He may have more than what I could find. I really would like to do a MRI or a CAT scan to make sure there is no internal damage."  
"Can you do it quietly and without a record of it?"  
"No."  
"Then you can't. If the people who did this find out he is still alive, they will come back to kill him. I can get a doctor. The woman who is currently with my husband is one and I'm sure she would be more than happy to help out." Sherry said to him.  
"Fine. I'm going to go to the pharmacy and get some pain pills. I'll have them put under another name so that there is no record of him being alive still. He'll need them later. Most of his ribs are broken, his shoulder was dislocated, he has two broken fingers, and that's only some of the broken bones. I don't think anything is broken in his knee or elbow, but they are severely bruised. When he wakes up, he will probably be in pain. Have him take the pills, and it should help some. He should not walk on his own nor move around that much. I need to give him a tetanus shot because it looks like they used nails on him."  
Sherry cringed at the thought of the nails. She subconsciously grabbed her hand and began to rub it where she had seen the hole in Jack's hand.   
The doctor left the room and came back shortly after with the pills. By the time he got back, the nurse was done with Jack and had a man over to help her transfer him over to the stretcher that would take Jack to the funeral home. They loaded him into the black bag. They zipped it up so that only a little hole was left to let oxygen come in. The man and the nurse loaded him into the car and the mad drove off towards the funeral home.  
Sherry thanked the doctor and the nurse and walked out to her car. She began to drive towards home. She noticed she still had pieces of Kate's head on her, and was still covered in Jack's blood. She hoped she didn't pass by any police officers because she looked pretty suspicious. Halfway home, her cell phone rang.   
When she answered it, David asked over the phone, "Where are you?"  
"Heading towards home. I wanted to see Jack one last time before I left." She said trying to mask why she was not home yet.  
"The Secret Service is already at your house waiting your arrival. I will be over later on tonight."  
Sherry asked, "Did you bring Ann with you?"  
"Yes. I hope it's ok that she comes with you."  
"Yes David. You know I have dealt with your relationship. I actually needed to see her too. I'm home now. I better let you go. I need to get out of these clothes and I need to clear my mind." Sherry said to her ex- husband.  
She pulled into her driveway and noticed the two cars parked on the street in front of her house. She opened the garage door from the remote in her car and she closed it before she got out of her car. She walked into the house and answered the knock at the front door. She asked to see their badges before she opened the door. She wanted to be sure this was the Secret Service and not the men who hurt Jack. After she was satisfied, it was the Secret Service she opened the door.  
One of the men looked at her and noticed all of the blood, "Mrs. Palmer, are you okay?"  
"I'm fine. None of it is mine. Make yourselves at home. I need a shower and a change of clothes. After that, I need to leave. Two of you can come with me. The rest must stay here."  
"I have to clear it with the President first, ma'am."  
"David is no longer in charge of me. You can either come with me or I can leave now and you'll have to explain to him why I refused you."   
"Fine ma'am, as you wish."  
Sherry walked up the steps to her bedroom. Once in there she grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom and took a nice long hot shower. She cried in the shower. She was amazed by how much this had affected her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
Mike waited patiently in the back of the funeral home. He was waiting for a car to pull up and men with guns to hope out. They could not be fooled by this little act he thought, but then he was. Jack's death had made the news because Sherry Palmer was involved, maybe the men were like the rest of America and believed what they heard on the news. Finally, the back door opened and a man had wheeled Jack out.  
Mike opened the trunk to the SUV and already had the seats down so that they could just slide Jack in and than hopefully cover him with something. The man slipped Jack into the back with the aid of Mike . He then walked back inside and came out with a blanket, which he used to cover Jack. Mike looked at him and began to worry about the lack of response from Jack. He looked at the man and asked, "Is he going to be okay?"  
"He should be fine, hopefully. Tell Sherry I was glad to be of service and remind her that she has a tennis game with my wife next week. My wife wanted me to remind her but I never really talked to her."  
"Sure." Mike was taken back by the ability of Sherry to put all of this into action. He thought is there anyone Sherry does not know?   
He got in the driver's side of the car and drove off towards the Hilton. When he got there, he was met by two of Sherry's guards who already had a suite reserved for Mike.   
"We got permission to sneak Jack in through the back of the hotel. This would take us through the kitchen up the back elevator to the top floor, which is already reserved for the President, but you have one of the suites. Mrs. Palmer said he was to stay with you. No one should be able to get on the floor since Palmer was staying there. Secret Service will shut it off to the public in a half-hour so we need to get moving. They already know you are staying there, but Jack is still unknown." One of the men told Mike.  
When they got Jack to the room the men gently laid him on a bed in one of the three rooms. Mike looked at the man and was worried that there had been no movements made by him. Mike walked up to him and pressed his hand on Jack's neck to feel for a pulse. When he found it, he felt a little better. He began to look at all of the bandaged wounds and he began to understand why Palmer trusted this man so much, especially during the day of the nuclear bomb and the prevention of war in the Middle East. He looked at the men with him and said, "He's going to need a doctor or something like that to make sure he is going to be okay. Do you know if Sherry has gotten him one yet?"  
"Sir, we were just told to help you get him up here, and then stay here and guard him." One of the two men said.  
"Fine. I'll call Sherry myself." Mike said walking out of the room. He got to the hotel phone and dialed her number. She did not answer so he put the phone back down and decided to try back later. He went to the room he would be staying at and began to unpack the bags the bell boy brought up for him. Mike tried to figure out whether or not he was willing to lie to the President again. He hoped Sherry would tell David, otherwise Mike saw his chances of getting back in with the president fading. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
Kim sat crying in her hospital bed. Chase grabbed her head and held it against his chest. Every now and then flinching in pain when she pushed in on his wound, he did not stop holding her though. He did not know what to say to her. He was still in shock himself and he wanted to cry with her, but he knew better.  
Michelle sat on the other side staring at Kim. Finally Chase could not stand sitting there and doing nothing so he started to speak to Kim, "Kim I have to go. I cannot sit here and do nothing. Michelle is here to help you. Please understand I have to go."  
Kim knew what he meant and she said through her tears, "Please don't. I don't want them to kill you too. You are already hurt. I can't lose you too."  
"Kim, I won't get hurt, don't worry. I'm just going to go next door and talk to Tony and the woman to see if I can't help with figuring out who is behind all of this." Chase said reassuringly.  
He slipped out from Kim and kissed her. His heart broke to see her in so much pain. Michelle on cue walked up and sat on the edge of Kim's bed crying with her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Mandy and the others sat walked into the safe house. Once inside Mandy called the boss. When he answered, all she said was, "It's me."  
"Nice to hear from you. I heard about the Warner's. Good job. I also heard about Jack. That is one less person we have to worry about."   
"What do you want us to do now?"  
"Where are you at?"  
"The safe house."  
"Sherry Palmer. She might know something. Can you get to her? I don't want her dead, but I would like her watched."  
"We already have someone watching her."  
"Good. Palmer is coming into town. We'll have to watch him. Otherwise everything is fine. Continue on as planned."  
"Fine. Is the meeting time and place still the same?"  
"Yes."  
"Will we have a sample there for them?"  
"Yes. One of the guys will have it on him for them to look at, and a live sample to show its effectiveness. Of course he will be in a quarantine tent."  
"Are the guys you sending with me more competent than the last bunch?"  
"Yes. They are some of my best." 


	14. Chpater 14

Chapter 14 Chase limped over to the room Tony had been in. When he walked in, Darla and Jim looked up at him. Tony was sitting in the corner talking on the phone. He looked up at Chase and held his finger up telling him to wait a minute. Tony clicked his phone off and said, "Someone hit the Warner home. Some interesting things are there, like Marie Warner. Let's go."   
Chase's face lit with happiness because he did not have to fight Tony to let him come along. "Let's go."  
The two walked down to Tony's car. Chase was out of breath when he reached the car, but he was not going to show Tony or anyone else that he was in pain, and probably could not do as much as he thought he could.   
Once in the car Tony took off towards the Warner home. Tony knew where it was because he had attended a few parties there while Jack and Kate were still together. He began to wonder what would make Kate do what she did? She seemed like such a nice normal person, but so did her sister. Tony already knew that Kate Warner had been killed when Jack was wounded after reading that in the police report. The thought of Jack being dead still did not feel real. Jack was Superman, nothing could kill that man, but finally, someone did. Tony began to block the thoughts, he knew his emotions would get in the way, and he couldn't let that happen. Jack had taught him to always focus on the one major thing and worry about the others later. There was always the one goal that had to be reached, and after that, there was another goal more important than what you felt.   
Chase was doing the same thing as Tony. Neither man spoke. Both were taking the advice of the man they both respected and both felt horrible for losing today. Jack was like a mentor to Chase. Chase had looked up to the man ever since he heard of what he did during the presidential primary. Chase thought he knew what he was doing when he was in D.C., but he did not know half of what Jack knew. When he transferred to L.A., he met the man he had looked up to and heard so many stories about. He quickly became friends with him, and then became his partner. It was not easy to be Jack Bauer's partner because Jack was a lone man. He knew what he had to do and he did it, and doesn't let anyone get in his way. He did not need anyone else. It took a while for Chase to earn his respect and when he did, Jack started to show Chase different things that Chase had never learned. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
Mike dialed Sherry's number and when she finally answered he asked, "Tell me again why we have this man in a hotel room and not a hospital?"  
"If he stays in the hospital, chances are that they will find out he had not died. If they find that out, they will kill him. He is our only link to the people, and David would want us to protect him any way we could."  
"Why haven't we told David?"  
"We already went through this Mike. Do we need to again? I am going to bring David into the equation when he gets there. His girlfriend, Ann, will be better able to understand how much damage was done to Jack, and if he really needs to be in a hospital, we can erect one in the hotel if we have to. She should be able to handle any problems that occur with him. Has he waked up yet?"  
"No. None that I know of. I'm going back in there now to look him over again. I noticed he has not even moved. I'm worried there might be more damage than what you thought, and he might not make it because of what we are doing."  
"Mike, believe me. If I thought for a moment he was in serious danger by me taking him out of the hospital, I would have not done it. But I weighed the consequences and it's worse if he stays, and you have to know that Mike.  
"I know. When are you going to be here?"  
"I'm heading out now. I'll be there in a half hour and David should be there within the next few hours."  
They said their good-byes. When Mike hung the phone up, he walked back into the room that Jack had been sleeping in. He sat down and studied the man. Trying to remember the first time he actually heard of this man.   
  
Suddenly, Jack jolted awake. His body surged with pain as he opened his eyes. He tried to turn his head to look around the room, but a great amount of pain vibrated through his entire body. He closed his eyes and opened them again hoping the blurriness in them would go away. He saw a blurry figure standing over him.  
When Mike saw Jack jolt awake, he jumped also. He had not expected it, and it startled him. He got up and walked over to Jack's bedside.  
Jack said barely above a whisper, "Where am I?"  
"You are at the Hilton, Jack."  
Jack's face showed the confusion he felt. He tried to sit up, but more pain rushed through his body.   
  
Mike gently put his hands on Jack's unhurt shoulder and said, "You should really rest. You've been through a lot today. Do you remember anything?"   
"Have you found my daughter's body yet?"  
Mike did not know what Jack was talking about. "I have not heard anything, but Sherry has not told me everything yet."  
"Sherry Palmer?" Jack asked confusion on his face again.  
"Let me call her and ask." Mike stepped out of the room and dialed Sherry's number. When she answered he told her, "He's awake. He is wondering if we have found his daughter's body? You did not tell me she was dead."  
"She's not. As far as I know, she's at CTU. I'll call Tony Almeida and ask about it. I think I have his number on the numbers David gave me earlier. Hold on." Sherry grabbed her house phone and dialed the number to CTU.   
Eventually someone picked it up and said, "CTU. This is Glen speaking."  
  
"Glen, I need to speak with Tony Almeida."  
"He's out in the field at the moment."  
"Is there any way you can patch me through. It is Sherry Palmer and I'm calling on behalf David Palmer."  
"Hold, please." Glen began to wonder what Sherry Palmer would want with Tony Almeida. He patched the phone call through and listened in on his end.  
"Mrs. Palmer?" Tony said confused as he drove towards the Warner's home.  
"Tony I was calling about Jack's daughter. I just heard that she might have been hurt badly earlier, and I was wondering if she was okay."  
"She is fine. We have her in the clinic at CTU. She and another agent were hurt. They are both fine now. Why do you ask?"  
"David wanted me to check on her. He will be there within the next hour or so. He wanted to make sure she was fine as far as her physical well being. I am sorry about your loss."  
Sherry said "good-bye" and picked up her cell phone. "Mike, she's fine. She and another agent were hurt, but they are fine now. How is Jack?"  
"He's in a lot of pain. Other than that, I'm not sure."  
"I have some pain pills I forgot to put with him. I'll get there as soon as I can."  
  
Mike hung the phone up and walked back into Jack's room. He looked at Jack wondering if he had fallen back asleep when Jack asked, "What's going on?"  
"Your daughter and another agent were hurt earlier, but they are fine now." Mike said.  
"Why am I here?" Jack said with some anger present. "What does Sherry Palmer have to do with this?"  
"Calm down, Jack. I can not answer all of those questions for you. I know why you are here and not in the hospital. Earlier, you were in a hospital and Sherry thought it best that after you flat-lined, in all appearance you were to stay dead. The doctors were able to revive you, but Sherry had them write everything as if you had died. The people who did this to you are still after you, and must have something else planned. Sherry contacted me, and we brought you to here to recuperate. If the people find out you are still alive, they will kill you."  
"You said in all appearances I'm dead? Does my daughter know I'm not?"  
"Jack, the only people who know you are alive are the men with me, Sherry, and the doctors. Everyone else thinks you are dead. The news caught the story, and Sherry told David you were dead because of the possible leaks coming out of his administration."  
"And President Palmer told my daughter. So she thinks I'm dead?"  
"Yes. I believe so."  
Jack started to sit up. Clenching his teeth to bear the pain.   
"What are you doing?"  
"I'm going to show my daughter that I'm not dead."  
"You cannot go, Jack. They will kill you."  
"I'm dead, and I can't bear the thought of my daughter having to deal with that."  
Jack got ready to stand up when one of Sherry's bodyguards walked up to him, and gently pushed him back down to the bed.   
"You are not supposed to be moving around." Mike said to him. "Don't make this harder than it is, Jack."  
Jack wanted to get up and move badly, but he knew his body would not even stand a chance in a fight with anyone at this moment. He could tell his body took quite a beating today. "Can you at least call her?"  
"We can't, Jack. With your help, this will all be over by the end of the week and then you can see her. Until then, it has to remain a secret."   
"I don't care, even if it puts me in danger. Call her. She already lost her mother, and I promised her nothing would happen to me." Jack said while allowing his anger to show.   
"We can't, Jack." Mike answered.   
"Yes, you can. Pick up the damn phone and call. She is not going to tell anyone." Jack looked at Mike, his deadly anger showing through his eyes.  
Jack glared at him. He tried to struggle against the man who held him down, but that only caused more pain.   
"Jack, stop before you make yourself worse. When Sherry gets here you can discuss it with her." Mike said. "Please, don't make this man have to do something to restrain you." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
Sherry walked out to her car with two of the Secret Service men following her. They had tried to insist on driving her, but she refused. She said they could drive in the car with her, or they could follow her. They decided that one would ride in the car and the other would follow close behind. The others stayed at the house like she had requested.   
She pulled out of her driveway and drove into the L.A. night traffic towards the Hilton hotel. The drive there was uneventful. No problems arose and she knew that she had about twenty minutes before Palmer landed to figure out what she was going to do. She knew she had to keep Jack at the Hilton and quiet. Otherwise the group will know he is still alive and that would put their one lead in danger, and possibly everyone at the hotel in danger.   
When she arrived at the hotel, she said she was to wait for Palmer to show up. She figured someone was watching her movements so she did not want them to know she was there for Jack.   
After being escorted to the suite that Mike was in by the Secret Service agents, she asked them to stay outside the door and let her know the minute the president had arrived. When she walked in she called for Mike, not knowing where he was.  
Mike emerged from a room and said, "Hello Sherry. I was just in the room with Jack. He is awake." Mike lowered his voice and said, "He is fighting to have his daughter called. He wants to let her know he still is alive. I told him to talk to you about it. I know if given the chance he will do it himself. One of the guys is in there watching him now. He had to restrain him for awhile to stop him from moving." Mike knew that given the chance, Jack would attempt to make it to the phone to call CTU.  
"I'll take care of it." Sherry said walking towards the room Mike had left. She looked at him and said, "Could you order some food up? I have not eaten all day, I doubt Jack nor have you either."  
"No problem." Mike said walking over to the phone.  
Sherry entered the room. She noticed Jack who lay on the bed with anger showing through his eyes. "Hi Jack. Nice to see you're awake."  
Jack answered, "Call my daughter and tell her I'm alive."  
"We can't do that Jack. There are too many leaks, and if they find out you will not only put yourself in danger, but everyone around you. We need you alive because you've seen the people and know them."  
"I'm not doing anything until you call my daughter and tell her I'm alive."  
"Jack, don't be like that. You know you would not put hundreds of lives at risk just to make a point to have your daughter called. How are you feeling?" Sherry added on at the end.  
"I'm fine." Jack said trying to hide the pain he really was in.  
"No, you are not. You're always stubborn. Here I have some pills for you. The doctor prescribed them." Sherry said grabbing the pill bottle from her purse. She opened it and handed Jack one of them. "I will go get you some water."  
Jack was in pain and he knew this pill would dull it, but it would also dull his senses and he knew something was not right.   
Sherry returned with the water and held it out for Jack to take.   
"I don't need the pill. I'm fine."  
"No you are not Jack. Take the damn pill." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------  
Air Force One landed at LAX and the president got off the plane and boarded his limo. He sat in the back talking to his brother Wayne. They were discussing the current situation and what they thought might be happening. Ann had long since learned to ignore the two when they got in this type of discussion. Wayne was not fond of her and would only take any input she added as stupid comments.  
The Secret Service took Palmer into the hotel the same way that Mike had taken Jack, through the back. When Palmer reached the floor that was reserved for him and his staff, he walked to the room where the two Secret Service men stood outside. He figured it was Mike's suite and Sherry must have been there. He knocked before entering the room and walked towards the room he had heard voices coming from.   
When he entered the room his face turned colors due to the surprise of seeing Jack Bauer. His shock turned to anger quickly. "I thought he was dead." David said looking at Sherry.  
"I had to tell you that David, and it has to remain as a secret because the people will come back for him. He knows what they look like. They will not want him to live. On top of that, you know you have leaks in your administration."  
Palmer looked at Jack who lied down on the bed asleep. He noticed how horrible Jack looked. His entire left shoulder was covered in gauze, his face was bruised as were the visible parts of his chest and abdomen.   
Sherry grabbed David's arm and pulled him out of the room closing the door behind her. "I think he is fine. Did Ann come with you?"  
"Yes." David said staring at the closed door, "His daughter thinks he's dead."  
"She has to continue to believe that because if they find out he is not they will come after him. Let's fight about this later. Can you see if Ann would be willing to look at him? He refuses to take the pain pills nor stay put. If she could just make sure, he did die David, but they brought him back again."  
Biting back his anger and allowing his worry for a friend to over come him and he complied with Sherry walking out of the room towards the room that Ann was in. When he got in there he said that he wanted to show her something, still keeping the cover of Jack being dead in place. He knew Sherry was trying to do something good for once, she was a good person, she just went about everything the wrong way.   
Returning with Ann, he walked into the room Jack was asleep in. He was worried for this man, and he began to feel guilty all over again. Every time he saw Jack even the first time when he wanted to fight the man at CTU, he felt guilty. He had never told Jack the entire truth about Operation Nightfall. He was not planning on ever telling Jack the truth. He knew the man would seek vengeance against him, even if his intentions were good.   
Jack's eyes opened again. He did not notice that he had drifted off back to sleep. He looked around the room and saw President Palmer, Ann, Mike, and Sherry. Jack felt like a freak in a freak show, everyone looking at him. He attempted to sit up, but Ann quickly placed a hand on his unhurt shoulder and said, "You should not be moving. By the looks of it you are pretty banged up. I'm going to take the gauze off your shoulder and hand and look at it." She said knowing about this man, and not wanting to alarm him.   
She gently pulled the tape off the gauze and then pulled it back. She cringed at the sight of the little hole from the nail and the other hole from the gun shot wound. She noted the discoloration in his shoulder. It was purple with green spots from bruises. She figured it had been dislocated as well. "You must be in pain. Did the doctor give him anything for the pain?" She asked Sherry.  
"Yes, but he refuses to take anything." Sherry added pointedly.  
Ann looked at him and said, "Why won't you take the pain pills? I know you are in a great amount of pain. Not only is your shoulder dislocated, but you have two serious wounds to it. By the looks of it, most of your ribs are broken and the list goes on."  
Jack did not answer her. He did not have a good reason other than he knew it would dull his senses and he did not want that. He felt like a prisoner, he was a prisoner. He knew right now if he said he was leaving and attempted to get up they would stop him. He looked at Palmer and all the anger he felt for the man came rushing back.   
Palmer noticed the look in Jack's eyes and it made him cringe inside. On the outside, he stayed cool calm and collect, but inside he knew Jack was pissed and would not be easy to deal with.   
Knowing what was likely to transpire Mike asked, "Jack, why don't you tell us about what happened to you earlier?"  
Palmer said while trying to break the tension, "If we can find these people quickly, the sooner you can see Kim again. She is fine. A little hurt, but she will be fine."   
Jack knew what Palmer had said was true, and he knew he was missing something. He had felt it for quite a while, if he went through what occurred, maybe it would come back to him. He started from the beginning leaving out the part about Amber living next door to him, and him helping her move. He started at the pickup point in the park and told the story all the way through till he was thrown out of the van. The rest was filled in by Sherry. When he was done something occurred to him. He had thought it before, but never though Palmer would be capable of it. The thought burned at him and he had lost respect for Palmer so he figured he could easily question him.   
"You say the woman said she was the daughter of one of your men from Operation Nightfall?"  
"Yes, sir." Jack felt like asking the question on his mind. He contemplated whether he should or not finally he caved in and asked, "Sir, there is something that just occurred to me. I always thought it was someone high ranking that set up Operation Nightfall to fail, but it never occurred to me the only people who knew about it in enough time to plan an attack like occurred would have been Ellis, you, and me. The rest of the people involved including my men were kept out of it until the last possible moment. I know I did not set the mission to fail, and Ellis would have chosen someone very incapable of leading the mission and would not of allowed some of the men to go I choose because they were the best. That leaves just you, sir."  
Palmer surprised said, "What you think I helped the Drazen family out by telling them you were coming?"  
"It makes sense to me sir." Jack answered.  
"Why would I?"  
"Because you wanted Drazen out of the picture. It was better if you got him alive and got him to tell you information. That would make sense, but it had to seem he was dead otherwise the world would know we had him, and you would not have the freedom you had."  
"Jack I don't like your accusations. I would never set up a team to fail. Never."  
"Maybe you did not originally mean to set the team up to fail, but when the chance presented itself, you did."  
"How could I? I did not know how or when the mission was going to happen. I was just going to be told it was done." Palmer said letting more anger show than he wanted.  
Jack was pissed now. He knew Palmer was the one. He was trying to hide it, but his eyes could not hide it. Jack knew and he went of the adrenaline rush that ran through him at the moment. "How could you?" Jack said sitting up.  
"I didn't." Palmer tried to convince him, but knew he couldn't. He did feel guilty.  
Mike walked towards Jack trying to keep him from going at the president. He could see the anger in Jack's eyes and worried he would try to attack the president.   
When Mike walked towards him Jack took it as a threat and hit Mike with his good right arm knocking the wind out of Mike.   
"What are you doing Jack?" The president asked while being pissed off getting ready to fight the man if he had too.   
Jack was out of bed and ready to fight the President. He knew once he did he would be in deep shit, but at the moment he didn't care. All he could see was the dead bodies of all his men, the pain in their families' eyes as Jack told them what happened, or Jack sat with them at the funerals.   
"Jack, don't do this. You know better than this. I am the President for Christ's sake."  
Jack approached the president he was still seething with anger. He had long since lost all control of himself. He was in the mind frame he was in when he killed Drazen and Nina. He knew what he was going to do would get him into trouble, but he did not care that man had done so much and lied to him. Jack stood looking in the President's eyes for a minute trying to calm himself, trying to stop himself.  
Sherry and Ann had walked out of the room when Jack approached the President. Sherry got one of her guards. They entered and saw the staring contest between the two men. The guard approached Jack he walked between the two men. He went to push Jack back away when Jack hit him with his right hand in the head stunning the man enough to be able to knee the man in the groin, sending him to the ground. The president was tired of staring at Jack and went at him to try to restrain him before he hurt anyone else.   
Jack was not expecting Palmer to come at him and when he did it surprised him for a moment. Jack blocked the first punch Palmer threw at him with his good arm, but since Jack only had one arm to work with he was not ready to block the next incoming punch. Palmer hit Jack in the stomach sending Jack to the ground in pain. Ann entered the room in time to see Palmer hit Jack. Jack began to get up again when Palmer looked down at him and said, "Jack, don't do this. I don't want to hurt you and you are in no shape to fight me. I did not set the mission up to fail."   
Palmer looked over at Ann who had a syringe in her hand. She looked at Palmer and he knew what she wanted him to do. He kneeled down and accidentally grabbed Jack's injured shoulder. Jack screamed in pain. Palmer placed another hand on the unhurt shoulder and held Jack down the best he could. Jack tried to struggle, but Ann inserted the needle into his good arm and pushed the plunger down, inserting the sedative into Jacks blood stream. After a few minutes Jack stopped fighting. A few minutes after his struggling stopped he had fallen asleep. Palmer took his hands off Jack. Jack's injured shoulder was bleeding again. Palmer looked down at the man and said, "I'm sorry, Jack."  
The guards came into the room and put Jack back on the bed. Taking Jack's good arm, they cuffed it to the headboard. Palmer sat in a chair staring at the man. Sherry looked at Palmer and began to ask, "What was this about you setting up them to fail? Did you really set them up, David?" 


	15. Chpater 15

Chapter 15  
  
Tony and Chase had reached Mr. Warner's house. Once there they noticed the body covered by the black body bag in the front of the house. They walked past the police, showing their badges. Chase limped to the back of the house where there was a large crowd of people. He said "hello" to Richard Car. He had worked with Chase when Chase was a police officer.  
  
"Man, Chase, you look like shit. Shouldn't you be in the hospital or resting?"  
  
"No. Just a scratch. What do you have here?"  
  
"Why is CTU interested in it?"  
  
Chase looked at the man. Did he need to know why, no not really, but Chase trusted him and decided it would be easier to get his help if he knew what they were looking for. "An agent was kidnapped earlier today and then her father, who had been an agent before traded himself for her. He died earlier."  
  
"You mean Jack Bauer?"  
  
"Yeah. How did you know?" Chase had not seen or heard the news since yesterday so he had no clue that it had been all over TV.  
  
"The media has been reporting it all day. Sherry Palmer was involved." Richard informed Chase.  
  
"Oh. I haven't seen the news in quite a while. So, what happened here?"  
  
"From the way it looks, they were professionals. One of the bodies, the one you walked by out front I think is one of theirs because of the gear."  
  
"S.W.A.T.?"  
  
"Yeah. That is partially why I think it's professional. The other is the way the victims were killed. Double taps."  
  
"That doesn't mean much of anything, but added in with the guys gear in front probably, plus with the people possibly involved." Chase thought out loud. "Any sign that anyone else was here?"  
  
"Yeah. Follow me." Richard led Chase down to the basement of the guess house when they entered the room Chase knew what had occurred in the room by the blood on the floor and the blood on the wooden chair. He did not say anything, he figured it was Jack who went through it. He remembered how he had survived the torture of the Salazars and how Claudia saved him. He hated Jack that day for not stopping it, but he later understood why and moved on.  
  
"Looks like they had fun with someone." Richard said noticing the far away look on Chase.  
  
"Probably Jack. Any clues as to who might have done it?"  
  
"Nope. We have two of the Warners here dead, the father and Marie, and then the other Warner, um" Richard looked at his notes and to retrieve the other name, "Kate Warner was killed earlier today during a supposed 'trade' between the people who did this and Sherry Palmer."   
  
Chase knew the details of the trade and cringed at the thought. If they had only found this earlier than they might have been able to save Jack. "Thanks, Richard. Seems kind of funny that Sherry Palmer knew where Kate was or even had her in her car with this happening. I assume it was before the trade?"  
  
"Yeah. Sherry Palmer keeps coming up with every incident. Maybe I should question her."   
  
Chase knew the man would not let this case go. Technically CTU had very little jurisdiction here. They could argue that this was a terrorist action, but they had no proof, and Jack was a civilian now so his death is a L.A.P.D. problem. When Kate was killed, all jurisdiction CTU had went down the drain. The person who assaulted their agents was dead. "Why don't we do it together?"  
  
"Sure. You probably can get better access than I can, and I know you want to stay in it because of your friend. I'd expect the same from you if they killed a L.A.P.D. officer."  
  
"Let me go find Tony Almeida and then we'll head off to the President's hotel. I figure Sherry Palmer will be there." Chase said limping away. He was breathing heavy from the pain of the wounds he had received earlier that day. He found Tony looking at the man in the front.  
  
"I talked to a friend of mine. He's the leader on this and he's going to interview Sherry Palmer. We are invited along." Chase said to Tony.  
  
"Good. I'll drive." Tony said walking towards his SUV.   
  
Richard caught up and Chase introduced everyone and Richard almost lost it. "You are Tony Almeida, director of CTU?"  
  
"That would be me."  
  
"Shit, man. Chase, you did not tell me you were hanging with the head honcho." Richard said stunned.  
  
Tony blushed feeling a little embarrassed. Then he thought about being there earlier and asked, "Was there any sign that Jack was here?"  
  
"Just the room in the basement of the guess house, but not direct evidence yet. Why are you asking?" Chase questioned, not knowing that Tony had been there earlier that day.  
  
"We were here earlier today. I searched the place and didn't find Jack." Tony said feeling the guilt of not finding Jack there. He knew if he had only found him, he would still be alive.  
  
"He probably wasn't there then. There was nothing any of us could have done." Chase said knowing what Tony was feeling because he felt guilty for allowing his guard down around Kate when he first saw her that morning. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
Mandy waited for the arrival of the dealers. She was about a mile off the meeting point, watching it through binoculars. She did not want to show up first. That would give the other person a chance to ambush them. She would wait and see if they had anything set up. She had been outside for almost an hour waiting for them to show.   
  
A black car drove down the dirt road and stopped at the forest line. They were right on time. Mandy called her people and told them to move in. She sat for a few more minutes before getting up and entering the car that came to drive her to the meeting point.  
  
When she got there, she saw the woman and was shocked at first. "I thought you were dead?" was the first thing out of her mouth.  
  
"Why did you think that?" the woman asked.  
  
"I heard that Bauer killed you."   
  
"He did. I'm not her. Just look like her thanks to surgery. Couldn't keep my old identity intact. Too many people knew it so I had to change it. Don't worry though, I don't have the same traits as she had."  
  
Still taken back by the sight of the woman, she asked, "Do you have the money?"  
  
"Do you have the goods?"  
  
"Yes. There is a sample on my laptop. Broadcasted live." Mandy answered.  
  
"What about the goods?"  
  
"They are with the person. I will go with you there once you have seen the sample and I have seen the money. This is so there is no way either of us double-crosses the other."  
  
"Fine. Let's see it."   
  
Mandy took the laptop out of the back of the car that drove her to the meeting place. After about ten minutes, it was up and running and ready to show the live broadcast. She called her contact number and they began to show the effects of the new drug.  
  
"You say this drug can kill anyone without leaving a trace in the blood stream?"  
  
"Yes. To all outwards appearances it would be a really bad fever that spreads quickly to everyone around. That's all it really is, but since the flu is such a spread able disease, many people will die from it. Mostly weak, old, and really young, but like the 1918 flu so will the strong middle age people. No one will be safe." Clicking on the menu button she showed the buyer the previous recording of the injection and test to check temperature. "This was a week ago. Here, the person is almost dead today." She said playing the live broadcast feed.  
  
The woman looked at the picture. The person was quite weak and ill looking, almost to the point of death. "That's good, but what about the other part of the deal? Where is Bauer?"  
  
"We had complications. He died." Mandy said dreading the question.  
  
"Are you sure he is dead? Have you seen the body?"  
  
"No, but it's been all over the news. Sherry Palmer was with him."  
  
"But you have not seen the body so you are not sure he is dead? It all could be a ploy."  
  
"His friend Almeida told his daughter. Almeida was told by the president. I do not think it is a ploy. Both his daughter and ex- colleagues took it bad." Mandy said in her own defense.  
  
"This creates a problem though. We wanted him alive because he has some information we must know."  
  
"If you tell me, I can get my person on the inside. Someone else has to know the same information." Mandy said trying to please her buyer.  
  
"No, they would not. It is about him. It is purely a personal question. Something that arose last time."  
  
"Are you still interested in the deal?" Mandy said knowing this conversation was going to go to no where.  
  
"Yes. Shall we?" The person said pointing at the black SUV she had arrived in.  
  
Mandy got in the back with her and directed the driver towards the place where the virus was being held. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
Palmer looked at Jack. He sat down silently watching him. He knew he would have to answer everyone's questions. There was no way around them, the problem was how much of the truth should he tell if at all. Sherry was still looking at him. She had already learned when to let him think and when to keep pestering him. He looked at her and said, "Sherry, I did not plan for the team to fail. They were to blow the place up, and come back alive. ALL of them. I don't know how the Drazens caught on, but they did. We wanted to get Drazen alive, but we wanted the team to succeed. It would have been on the news that they had been bombed because Drazen was starting to pick up publicity."  
  
"You have to tell Jack that, then. God David. You should have told him the first time this came up. He's not going to believe you because you hid it. We both know Jack is not a man to play with." Sherry scolded him.  
  
"I know. I couldn't because I knew he would be pissed and he had his family problems to deal with that day. Since then, it hasn't arisen again so I figured it was not so important for him to know."  
  
The phone rang in the room. One of the Secret Service agents picked it up, listened while the caller told him what he wanted. He put the phone down and walked over to the President. "Mr. President, a Mr. Almeida is on the phone. He and his partners would like to ask Sherry a few questions about the events earlier today."  
  
Sherry and the President both looked up in surprise. "Have them wait in the conference room. Sherry will be there in a few moments." The President said feeling the dread of the meeting taking over him. He knew these men were quite capable of doing their job and Sherry had to lie to them about the day they could not know about Jack especially after what had just transpired. "Can you do this, Sherry?" David asked wondering about his ex-wife. She was a good liar, but was she good enough to fool the CTU people.  
  
"Yes. Don't worry, David. Why don't you go in and check on Jack? Then in about ten minutes, come down to the room." Sherry said preparing herself for the biggest test she has faced yet. She got off the couch and left the room.   
  
David walked into the room that Jack was now sedated in. He looked at the man and wondered how he could convince him he did not set the team up to fail. He knew that no matter what, Jack would be pissed, and the feeling would grow worse for what he had done earlier.   
  
Ann was in there looking over Jack, checking his pulse and wounds. She was worried about him because he should be in a hospital hooked up to machines, not here. She looked at David and began to feel like David felt towards Sherry. "David, he should be in a hospital. If something goes wrong, we cannot do anything to stop it. Whatever threat the people pose towards him we, are endangering him even more by keeping him here."  
  
"He was fine earlier when he was awake. He should be fine." David said trying to convince her that everything would be fine.  
  
"Just because he sounded fine doesn't mean he's fine. This man has been through a lot and needs to be in the hospital. If he dies. you will be responsible for it, David. You will be responsible for the death of the man you once said was a great friend and someone you trusted wholeheartedly. Do you really want the responsibility on your shoulders? You will be responsible for his daughter losing her father. Think David. You are a great man, this is not you."  
  
"Ann, I know, but we have to keep this up a little longer. How much longer will he be out?"  
  
"A few more minutes most likely." Ann answered.   
  
"Good. I have to take care of some things. If he comes too before I get back, send a Secret Service agent down to the conference room and have them get me. Thank you Ann. I know you are worried, but I can't let him go to the hospital. I will make it up to you and him, I promise." David said leaving the room with his head hanging down. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he had too. Too much was riding on this. 


	16. Chapter 16

Author Note: Sorry it took so long to update this fic. I forgot my A drive for my lab top when I went home for spring break and had to type everything I did on my lab top that I had not emailed to myself to my home computer, and I choose only to do it for the other fic because there was less to type at first.  
  
Chapter 16  
  
Jack slowly woke up from his drug-induced unconsciousness. He looked around the room something that had long been integrated into his instincts. He noticed only Ann and a Secret Service agent sitting in the room. He went to move his hand above his head when he felt the metal cuff and heard the clink of it to the headboard. He thought to himself, Great I'm being held captive by the president of the United States, can the day get any stranger? He did not want to think of how it could get worse, he knew it could, you can always go past rock bottom some called it hell.  
  
Ann walked up to him and asked, "How are you feeling?"  
  
Still groggy from the sedative she gave him, he answered in a slurred voice, "I've been better."   
  
She smiled at him, she did not know what else to do. He had been betrayed today by the one man who she respected and he had taken quite a beating again. "I'm sorry about all of this, Mr. Bauer. I know how much you have sacrificed for you job and I'm sure David will explain everything to you. I do not believe he really wants this to be like it is, it was just out of his hands at the moment."   
  
Jack began to feel the pain from of all his injuries and he tensed at the wave of pain and nausea that came over him. He tried not to show it, but it would be obvious to anyone who had half a brain.  
  
"I'm going to give you something for the pain." Ann said walking out of the room to get her medicine bag she always carried on her because of David's condition. She entered the room and pulled out the liquid pain killer. Before she could give it to him, David and the Secret Service agent walked into the room.   
  
David asked Ann, "Could you leave us alone for a while?"  
  
"I was about to give him something for his pain . . ."  
  
Palmer cut her off, "Don't. I need him to be awake and alert."  
  
"But David, he is in a lot of pain and should not have to suffer. It's bad enough you have detained him against his will." Ann said choosing to forget her part in the entire ordeal. She had already justified her actions. Jack would have been in worse trouble by doing what he was trying to do earlier so she had to sedate him to keep him from hurting himself or the president.  
  
"Leave us, please. I'm sure Jack would rather be awake for this." David said looking at Jack who was laying on the bed.  
  
Ann looked at Jack and could see he clearly did not want any more drugs in him. She stormed out of the room and sat in the living room area fuming.  
  
Jack tried to sit up, but could not with his one good arm cuffed. He looked at the President and asked in a quiet tone, "Could you take this off? I'm not going to do anything again."  
  
Palmer looked at the Secret Service agent who walked over and uncuffed Jack. The Secret Service agent leaned against the wall by Jack. He was not going to let Jack get by him again. He had failed once, but he was not going to do it again.   
  
As Jack pulled himself into a sitting position his face revealed the immense amount of pain he felt.   
  
"Jack, I did not set your team up to fail. I think that by now, you would know me enough to know that I would never send six American soldiers to their deaths without enough cause and Victor Drazen was not enough. I knew that Victor was not going to be there on the last day of the mission , but I allowed the mission to continue because Ellis told me he had another team in place that would be able to capture Victor Drazen. I wanted him out of the picture either dead or captured. I did not want your team to fail, and I'm sure Ellis did not set it up either. I think I know who did, but I don't have any evidence yet. That is what I had Sherry working on earlier today. It has come to my attention that there are some people working against the American people for their own gains. I am almost sure that my Vice President is one of them. Other than that, I am not sure. This is the God's honest truth Jack." Palmer almost said in a pleading voice. He wanted Jack to believe him and he was telling most of the truth some of the facts he left out because Jack did not need to know in his opinion.   
  
"Why didn't you tell me the first time we talked of it, sir?" Jack said trying to find the lies in Palmer's story.  
  
"I did not believe you needed to know it. You had more than enough problems on your hands and I didn't know about the outside problems. I did not know all the details of the mission." Palmer answered in a straight voice never breaking eye contact with Jack.  
  
"How could you not know the details? You authorized it, you had to know something." Jack said already knowing the answer.  
  
"Ellis wanted to keep everyone involved in the dark so that it would not come back on anyone. Somehow it did, and I am sorry for that."  
  
"Why are you keeping me here? Why won't you let me call my daughter? Why did you involve me and my daughter? I thought you understood I was done. I am retired and did not want to deal with any of the problems again."  
  
"I am truly sorry about that Jack, but you brought it upon yourself. Those damn journals are what brought out the leak issue. Darla had a chance, and with my permission, she took it. Kim was never supposed to get hurt and this was not suppose to go as far as it did." Palmer answered.   
  
"But she did, sir." Jack said with the anger clearly in his voice.   
  
"I know and I am very sorry for it. But she is fine now."  
  
"Sir, she is hardly fine. She thinks I'm dead."  
  
"She will find out in due time you are not. I have Sherry working hard on finding the people."  
  
"Sir, no offense to your ex-wife, but she is not cut out for this. She has never had to find people like this before by herself. She has her sources, but asking them will put her in danger because it will get back to the people she is asking."  
  
"So how do we go about this?"  
  
"Let CTU handle it. That is what they do."  
  
"I don't want to bring them in. There are too many leaks and problems."  
  
"Then let me do it."  
  
"You are not in the shape Jack. Look at yourself, you can barely move without letting the pain you're showing. You should be resting as you are right now. You are in no shape to take these people on."  
  
"Sir, you left me no choice when you involved me and my daughter. I may be dead, but Kim isn't and they will go after her eventually."  
  
"We have her protected."  
  
"At CTU, the place you don't trust because of the leaks. That is not good enough sir. We will have an upper hand because they think I'm dead. If you want send someone with me, I don't care. I'm bringing these people down."  
  
"Jack, you can't. How about you help me by telling me what happened earlier today? How did you get in the shape you are in?"  
  
"You cannot hold me here, sir. I don't pose a threat to anyone or national security so you have no reason to." Jack said testing the waters to see how much the president was sure his way was right.  
  
"Jack, you don't want to make it harder on yourself. You and I both know there is no way you will get out of here. I am willing to keep you sedated as long as it takes. You are not leaving, and that is final."  
  
Jack looked at him. All his anger clearly showing through his eyes. Palmer felt a cold chill run through him as he seen Jack's eyes like he had never seen them before.   
  
Jack could no longer contain his hatred and anger, "Goddamn it! You can't fucking do this! I am an American citizen! I no longer work for you or anyone else! You have no fucking right! I have paid more than enough the past few years. I did my share for this country and I am done. Let me the fuck out of here now!"   
  
The Secret Service agent was already ready to hold Jack down if need be. Palmer looked at his friend and said, "Jack, I know what you have paid. Believe me, but I can't let you go. Not yet. I promise I will make it up to you."  
  
Jack tried to stand up but was met with resistance by the Secret Service agent putting his hand on Jack's uninjured shoulder. Jack looked at him and said, "I'm giving you five seconds to get your fucking hand off of me."  
  
The man almost laughed too aloud. He thought, What are you going to do? You are in no shape to fight me. Unexpectedly Jack moved his injured arm through the pain and grabbed the man's arm, twisting it around to the point of almost breaking the man's arm. Jack pulled down on the arm to help him reach a standing position. The Secret Service agent went for his gun but was met with a punch to the back of the head with Jack's good left hand, stunning the Secret Service agent enough to allow Jack the chance to grab his gun.  
  
Jack released his arm and returned his injured right arm to his side. Blood was now showing through the bandages on his right hand. His broken fingers hurt and his shoulder burned with pain again, but he put it all out of his mind and pointed the gun steadily at the president.   
  
In shock, the President asked, "Jack what are you doing? Do you want to get yourself into more trouble?"  
  
"I don't care anymore, sir. Turn around and face the wall." Jack said in a flat tone. His mind contemplating his next steps. He looked at the secret service man who sat on the floor with his hands up. Jack bent down and hit him hard in the head with the butt of the gun knocking him out.   
  
Palmer turned around when he heard the man hit the floor. "Goddamn it Jack, what are you doing? Stop this foolishness right now before you hurt yourself or someone else."  
  
"Where is Sherry?"  
  
"She's in a meeting."  
  
"Where at?"  
  
"The conference room."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"Down the hall from this room."  
  
"How many Secret Service agents are outside?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Where are Mike and Ann?"  
  
"Mike is sleeping and Ann I'm not sure. She's pissed."  
  
"Fine. Let's go."  
  
"Where to?" The president said worried Jack was about ready to do something they both would regret later on. "You know I won't be able to help you out of this trouble this time Jack."  
  
"I don't care anymore. Don't you understand that?"  
  
"No, I don't Jack. I know you and this is not like you."  
  
"You don't know shit." Jack said with his teeth clenched in pain. He walked up to the president and put an arm on him to help support him.   
  
The two men walked through the door into the main room of the suite. The Secret Service agents all drew their guns at the sight of Jacking holding the president at gunpoint.   
  
Ann looked on in shock. She was not sure what to do. She stood still in fear.  
  
The President stopped and the Secret Service agents kept commanding Jack to put the gun down.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Chase and Tony both knew that Sherry was hiding something, what they could not figure out. They were trained at noticing the little details that people gave off when they were lying, and they found one too many in Sherry Palmer as she discussed what had occurred that day. Knowing that there was no one in which they would find out the information from other than Sherry, they pressed on until the point where they could no longer take it. Chase always being curt like Jack and asked, "What are you lying to us about?"  
  
Sherry looked at him and said, "I'm not lying to you."  
  
"Yes you are. What is it? Were you involved in this?" Chase asked allowing just a little anger to show. "You know we lost a friend today, and you are lying to us about something. Tell me what it is and I'll keep it between us in this room. I just want to find the people that is all. I don't care if you had a part Mrs. Palmer." Chase pleaded.  
  
"I'm not lying to you. That is all I know."  
  
Chase got up and walked out of the room to keep himself from getting into trouble. Tony thanked her for her time and followed Chase out of the room. Richard followed behind the entire time keeping quiet he knew that politics play a major role in law enforcement and he was not looking to go back to street duty any time soon, and this is what could lead him to that.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Jack had the gun on Palmer standing in the center of the room. He could not move forward because of the Secret Service, and there was no reason to move back, but he would not give up. They all just stood there. The Secret Service agents were commanding him to put the gun down, and his mind commanding himself to stay standing.  
  
Palmer tried one more time to get through to Jack, "Come on, Jack. You don't want this. What about Kim? Eventually, they will get tired and they will fire on you. You don't want Kim to really be an orphan alone."  
  
"I'm already dead. And Kim has been alone for a long time. She has Chase now she'll be fine."  
  
"Is that what you think Jack? Kim needs her father. Chase also needs your guidance." Palmer tried hard to reason with him.   
  
The Secret Service agent that Jack had knocked out earlier was in the door way behind Jack. Jack was too busy paying attention to the others that he never noticed the man approaching him. All of the sudden pain rushed through Jack's shoulder and he moaned in pain still having the gun pointed at the president. He felt the hand constricting his shoulder and then a hand around his neck pulling him towards the ground. The gun went off as Jack fell towards the floor.   
  
On the ground Jack was breathing heavily, with the gun on the floor next to him and the Secret Service agent holding him in place. A moment later, more Secret Service agents were on him and he was now on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back.   
  
The other Secret Service agents were helping the President up. "Sir, are you okay? Where are you hit?"  
  
"What the hell was that for?!" The president yelled at the Secret Service agent that had snuck up behind Jack. "You could have gotten me killed, and there was no reason to do that to him. He would have calmed down eventually. He never would have hurt me."  
  
"Sir, he had a gun pointed at you, and we had no way of knowing whether or not he would have hurt you or not." The Secret Service agent said in his defense.  
  
The President walked over to where Jack lay on the floor gasping for air. "Are you okay Jack?" The president asked being unable to be pissed off at him. Jack had saved his life so many times, he had put Jack's life in jeopardy so many times, and he had lied to Jack. Jack had more than enough reasons to want to kill him. In his heart, though, he knew Jack would never kill him.   
  
The door to the suite came flying open. Tony, Richard, and Chase walked into the room with their guns drawn. Every Secret Service agent had their guns pointed at them.   
  
The first thing Tony noticed was Jack on the floor. His face registered the shook immediately and he asked, "Jack? What's going on? Mr. President?" Tony did not understand. He had been told Jack was dead and he assumed the President would not lie about that.   
  
Jack was still on the floor gasping for air. The pain was abundant at the moment that he wish he had passed out from it. Ann walked over to him slowly. She was scared from all the guns being pulled and pointed at someone at the moment. She gently called his name, "Jack, I'm going to give you something for the pain. Okay?"  
  
She took the needle and vial from her bag and withdrew enough of the pain killer to remove the pain from Jack. She inserted the needle into his arm, this time he did not fight her. She pushed the plunger down and the fluid ran into Jack's blood stream. She looked up at one of the secret service men standing above her and said, "Uncuff this man now. His shoulder should not be put in this position."  
  
The Secret Service agent looked at the president who nodded in approval. The man bent down and uncuffed Jack's hands. He stood ready for anything from Jack.   
  
"Mr. Almeida, Mr. Edmunds, and your friend, put your guns down. There are no hostiles here. I will explain everything to you" The president stated.  
  
Richard did put his gun back the moment he saw the president. Chase looked at Tony and followed Tony in putting his gun back in the holster. Tony had not taken his eyes off of Jack. He was overwhelmed with mixed feelings happiness, sadness because of Jack's current condition, and a feeling of dread because he knew there was a reason Jack was cuffed.   
  
The President motioned for the three men to sit down. Each sitting on the couch staring at their friend. Two Secret Service agents grabbed Jack off the floor and began to take him out of the room when Chase asked, "Where are you taking him?"  
  
"Don't worry, Chase. They are just taking back to a room. Ann is going to attended to him again, and than you can see him." The President answered.  
  
Jack no longer felt the pain. The drugs were well-known to his body and he enjoyed the feeling. He looked down at his hand the bandage was covered in blood. He knew he should feel pain, but he did not.   
  
Ann gently grabbed his bandage hand he was so intently studying and took the bandaged off it to put a fresh bandage on. She was worried about him he had taken quite a beating and not only from the enemy. She recovered his hand and went to work on his shoulder. She did not have anything to numb it so she could restitch it. She hoped that the morphine she gave him would be enough. As she did, she could feel him tense sometimes and she knew that he could feel the pain of the needle and was not trying to show it. She said softly to him, "I'm sorry about all of this. I am sure David will have a great excuse and that he is truly sorry for all of it."   
  
Jack stared at the wall and said nothing to her. She thought maybe he was asleep when he said softly to her, "Thank you."  
  
"It is the least I could do." She finished stitching the wound and started to dress it again. When she finished she looked at him and said, "Mr. Bauer, I think you are good to go again. Maybe this time, you will rest?" She smiled at him and said, "What am I saying. The chances of you resting are about the same chances of a snow ball in hell, but please take it easy. Sit here for a second and I will go try to find you some clothes."  
  
Ann walked out of the room and found David sitting on the chair talking to Chase, Tony, and Richard. She excused herself into the conversation and said to David in his ear, "Do you mind if I steal a shirt for Jack? I know your shirt won't exactly fit him, but it's a start."  
  
David looked up at her and knew she was not going to be on his side of keeping Jack here. "Sure. Take whatever you need." He said giving in to her because he did not want to argue with her she was right, he could not keep Jack here any longer against his will. He thought to himself he could have Jack arrested for taking him at gunpoint, but that seemed almost laughable because technically, Jack was trying to escape a captor.   
  
Ann left him and went to their room. She searched through David's clothes to find a shirt that would not be missed too much. She went through David's slacks and picked out a pair that were no longer in use. They would be to long and probably to big in the waste for Jack, but it would get him out of here. She walked back into Mike's suite and showed David the clothes she picked out and he shook his head in approval. She continued back to the room Jack had been sitting in. When she entered he looked up at her, his eyes glossy from the drug. She smiled at him and said, "These will probably be too big on you, but you can always say you got to borrow clothes from the President."   
  
"Thank you for everything." Jack responded.   
  
"Don't thank me yet you haven't gotten the bill." She said trying to keep things light. She felt sorry for the man, but at the same time knew most of what had happened he brought onto himself. "Let's get you dressed so you can get out of here to see your daughter."   
  
She gently helped Jack get the shirt on putting his injured shoulder in the sleeve first and then his other arm. He buttoned the shirt having trouble with it because he only had one good hand to help the process and his other hand only contributing a thumb. He refused to have her help him. When he was finished buttoning the shirt, she walked up to him and rolled the two long sleeves up. She almost laughed at the difference in size between Jack and the President. After helping him roll the sleeves up, she walked into the bathroom off the room to grab the pills the doctor at the hospital prescribed for him. When she got back, he already had the pants on. She couldn't help but laugh this time. Jack looked almost like the little boy who attempts to put his father's clothes on.   
  
Noticing she was laughing at him, he asked, "What's so funny?" He knew why she was laughing and he started to laugh with her when he looked at himself in the mirror.   
  
She handed him the bottle of pills and said, "Take these, please Jack. It will help with the pain, but it will be painful. If you feel dizzy or anything like that, see a doctor. You should go and see a doctor now, but I know you won't. In a week, I want you to go see a doctor and have them check up on you again. If you don't, I'll track you down again." She left the room again and returned with a sling for his arm. She helped him put it on.   
  
He tensed as his arm moved upwards to get put in the sling, pain rushed through his shoulder. After the sling was on, he stood up and followed her out to join the others. As he walked into what would be considered the living room of the suite the President stood up and looked at Jack. He did not know what to say he looked at Jack whose eyes were still glossy from the drug and said the only thing he could think of, "I'm sorry, Jack. I did what I thought was right."  
  
Knowing that the President had a huge advantage over him right now because of his earlier actions and knowing that the President had done what he believed was right, Jack looked at him and said, "You did what you had to do." Jack could not say all was forgiven because he had not only almost lost his daughter and his life today, but he had lost his wife, and six of his best men years ago because of what David Palmer had chosen to do.  
  
Chase could feel the tension in the room and said, "Jack, you look pretty damn good for a dead man. I'm glad to see you are still alive and kicking."  
  
"How is Kim?" Jack asked worried.  
  
"She was really torn up when she heard you were dead. Here, call her and let her know you are not dead. She'll be happy to hear it." Chase said handing Jack a cell phone.  
  
Before he dialed the number, Jack asked, "How are you doing?"  
  
"Oh, me? I just got a little scratch nothing to worry about." Chase said looking down at his chest which began to hurt at the thought of the bullet that had tore through it.  
  
"You should be in the hospital, Chase. You were shot in the chest." Jack protested. Jack thought to himself, Chase was like him in so many ways. No wonder Kim loved him. People always say that a woman will always end up with a man like her father, and Chase was Jack when he was younger. Not that Jack had changed that much.  
  
"I'll go if you go." Chase said knowing that Jack would not go.  
  
Jack dialed the number Tony had given him. It was the direct number to Kim's room.   
  
Michelle answered the phone and almost screamed at Jack when she heard his voice on the other line. She handed Kim the phone being pissed at Jack for not letting them know he was alive earlier or even letting them think he was dead.  
  
Kim took the phone from Michelle not knowing it was her father. "Hello?"  
  
"Kim honey. I'm so sorry baby." Jack said in the phone quietly, not wanting the others hear him talk to her as he was.  
  
"Dad?"  
  
"Yeah it's me. I'm not dead. I'm so sorry you were led to believe I was. I love you so much Kim. I'm so sorry." Jack said holding back the tears feeling the lump in his throat grow.  
  
"Are you okay, dad?" Kim asked worried and happy all at the same time.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jack paused, "I just wanted to call you to clear the matter up. I am so sorry honey. I better get off there is work to be done." Jack said his good-bye to his daughter and hung the phone up. When he was finished with the call he noticed everyone in the room had been paying attention to his phone conversation and he blushed at the thought of it.  
  
"What work?" Palmer asked clearly showing he was eavesdropping into the conversation.  
  
Jack cleared his throat and said, "The people who had me earlier clearly have a plan for something. And when people like that get together, it is never good. Something is going on sir, and it is not something good. 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
Michelle and Kim sat in Tony's office. Kim did not want to sit in the clinic room anymore and they both knew there was work to be done, and now were ready to do it. Kim was all smiles now, not knowing her father was going to endanger himself again. Michelle was happy for Kim and happy that Jack was not dead. She had liked Jack from the moment she saw him walk into CTU. She had heard the stories about him and thought he was a stubborn agent that always put others in danger, but after she met him, she knew it was not true. Jack had a habit which when he started doing something, he had to finish it. There was no halfway on this. Either you do it or you don't. It was black and white for Jack. The gray barely present, but on those few rare occasions when it is needed. She knew Jack could get the job done, and the thought of not seeing him again hurt her.  
  
"Michelle, does Tony have his cell phone on him? I really would like to speak to my father again, and Chase." Kim asked sitting on the couch in Tony's office looking through some old paperwork.  
  
"I think so. Here, try the number." Michelle said tossing Kim the cordless phone.  
  
After a couple of rings Tony picked up the phone, "Almeida."  
  
"Hey Tony, it's Kim. Is my father with you?"  
  
"Yeah. Hold on."\  
  
Kim could hear the sound of the car and deduced that Tony was driving Jack home or to CTU.  
  
"Kim." Jack said into the phone trying not to let the pain show through his voice. The drugs were wearing off and he knew he needed to take more, but he did not want to cloud his mind.  
  
"Dad. Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah. Just a little tired, that's all." Jack said lying.  
  
"Where are you guys going?" Kim asked.  
  
"Tony is taking me home." Jack answered.  
  
"Really?" Kim said thinking her father was lying about it. Jack was never one not to finish what he started or to go home in the middle of all of the trouble that was going on. "I'll meet you there, then."  
  
Jack wanted to protest it would not be safe for her to be there, but he figured he could always have her leave after she saw him. She would be worried at first, but when he said he would be resting maybe she would leave. "You shouldn't be leaving the hospital?"  
  
"You probably should be in a hospital, but you aren't so I'm just taking after you. Chase should be in a hospital. He's not, so I'm just copying him too." Kim said determined to know he was really going home.  
  
"Fine." Jack said not wanting to argue with his daughter. "We'll be there in a few minutes. Who is going to drive you?" Jack asked knowing his daughter was injured and should not drive.  
  
Putting her hand over the phone, Kim asked Michelle, "Would you drive me over to my father's apartment? Tony is taking him home now."  
  
"Sure. Chappelle is here so he can take over CTU. Let me go tell him that we are taking off. We've both been here quite a while and deserve the time off." Michelle said getting up and leaving the office, eager to see Tony again.  
  
"Michelle is. We'll meet you guys there. Keep Tony and Chase there till we arrive." Kim ordered her father.  
  
"See you then." Jack said hanging up the phone as Tony pulled in front of Jack's crappy apartment building. Jack slid out of the car having trouble doing so because of the use of only one arm.  
  
"You okay, Jack?" Chase asked noticing the pain in Jack's face.  
  
"Yeah these damn broken ribs are a bitch."  
  
Richard piped in, "I know how that is. Broke six ribs last year taking down this damn crackhead. Motherfucker would not stop fighting even when we had him in cuffs."   
  
Jokingly Tony said, "Come on, Gimpy and Limpy. You too, Richard."  
  
Jack smiled at the joke and said, "Hey I'm Gimpy, he's Limpy."  
  
Chase thought of something to say, but chose not to because Jack would probably kill him for it.  
  
Tony and Richard followed behind Jack and Chase as they walked up the steps to Jack's apartment. Each movement made more pain shoot through Jack, but he knew he better get used to it because it will be with him for awhile, and he figured he's been in the worst shape and done a lot more in that condition.  
  
"Do you have your keys. Jack?" Tony asked figuring he did not.  
  
"Uh, no. Shit, I don't any of my things." Jack said thinking about his wallet, cell phone, and keys all missing.   
  
"I'll go grab the manager then. She'll let us in." Tony said walking down the hallway towards the manager's apartment.  
  
Jack and Chase leaned against the wall waiting for Tony to come back. Neither spoke to each other. There was not much to say about anything; talking about the weather, news, or anything else would be absurd considering they both know what's on. The nightly news is hardly the true news and two men in their position having small talk about the weather is just a crazy idea.  
  
Tony finally came and saved them from having to even attempt small talk. The manager unlocked the apartment and took note of how horrible the two of the four men looked. Waiting outside the apartment door for Jack and Tony to go in and the manager to leave, Richard finally said, "I think I'm going to hang outside and make sure all is clear there. If anyone comes, I'll warn you by calling your cell phone. I believe I have the number."  
  
"That's a good idea, Richard. Word has probably gotten back to the people that Jack is not dead and they will want to clean up that mistake." Chase said looking inside the apartment. "I'll join you in a few minutes."  
  
Jack walked into the apartment and asked, "You want a beer?"  
  
"No, some coffee would be nice if you have coffee." Tony said.  
  
"Yeah. I'll make a pot of coffee." Jack said limping to the kitchen. He found the Folder's coffee and put three scoops of it into the filter and added the water. After he finished making the coffee he said, "I'm going to change and shave. Make yourselves at home."  
  
Jack walked back to his room and looked through the closet for comfortable clothes to put on. He hated to wear sweat pants in public so he choose a comfortable pair of blue jeans that were a little big for him. He found a clean shirt, and a wife beater to put on under it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------  
  
Sherry sat on the couch that less than an hour ago Tony, Chase, and Richard had occupied. She was not sure what was going on, "Why did you decided to let him go David?"  
  
"I couldn't keep him here any longer. I feel guilty for what I did and what I had done before. If we have a chance at figuring out what those people are up to, Jack is our only lead and he is not going to give the information to me willingly. Therefore, Tony Almeida and the others will be better able to get it out of him because he is pissed at me and would not be willing to help me out in any way. You know what? I don't blame him. I did what I had to do and because of my choice he lost good men out in the field. I lied to him about what happened when his family was in danger, and then I asked him less than a few years later to come back and put himself in harm's way to save the country again after he paid more than he ever should have." David answered being angry at himself. He could see Sherry's personality in him at the moment. He did the same thing to Jack that she had done to him, and look how he treated her for doing it.   
  
Ann sat in the background not saying anything. She was shocked and disgusted at the fact that David had done the things he had done today. She left him last year because she could not live in his world. A few weeks later, he called asking her to come back. She did because she loved him, and he was the most honest man and politician she had ever known, but today changed all of that. Not only did he endanger the life of Jack, but Jack's daughter. All of this and more of what he did and she was not sure if he was the man she thought he was. Maybe he was the typical politician, a wolf in sheep's clothing.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------  
  
Sitting in a parked car, Mandy and Amber watched as the people entered the building. A few minutes later, one of them left the building and sat in the car. Mandy wondered why the man did not drive off yet. He most likely had been watching for people to be coming. A few later, another man walked out with two cups of coffee in his hand. He handed one to the man in he car and got in and sat next to the man in the driver's seat. They talked about something Mandy was not able to identify because she did not read lips.  
  
"Do you think more are coming?" Amber asked sitting in the passenger's seat.  
  
"Yeah. My source told me his daughter and the other man's wife would be joining us soon. We'll go in with them. Try to grab them on the steps so we can control the two inside easily." Mandy answered as if she were saying something basic.  
  
"Why are we going after him again? Clearly, he is in no shape to come after us, nor does he have any information dealing with our plan. So why risk it?" Amber asked wondering why they were chancing it again. In truth she was worried to because she was sure that Jack had not set her father and the others up in Kosovo, and she no longer had the hatred for him. She had learned a lot about him in the few short hours after his supposed death. The man Mandy worked with kept speaking of Jack's past, almost as if he looked up to the man. Amber learned that not only had Jack not set the men up, but he almost did not make it out. When he did get back, he was completely different to the point that his wife wanted to leave him. After they finally got back together, his wife was killed by the woman he had seen during the separation, who was also a mole. After that, Jack left CTU for awhile and came back to save L.A. from a nuclear bomb a few years ago. Jack did not seem like the type of man that would sell out an entire team.  
  
"Because the people who are paying us want him. For what, I'm not sure, but they want him, and we said we would deliver. In this business, you have to keep your word, and not make mistakes like I did earlier by not killing him because they do not forgive easily." Mandy stated trying to show Amber what she was really into.  
  
After stating those words, the two women got ready to go as Kim and Michelle had just parked outside of the apartment building.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Michelle parked the car a few cars behind Tony's car that Chase and some other man had been sitting in. She walked up to the passenger window with Kim in tow. "Hey Chase." She said smiling.  
  
Kim smiled at Chase and was happy to see him again.  
  
"Hey. They are upstairs." Chase said referring to Tony and Jack.  
"Why don't you and your friend go and grab some food for us. If I'm not mistaken, no one has really eaten anything all day." Michelle asked.  
  
"Hi. I'm Richard. I used to work with Chase when he was in SWAT. It's no problem. Where would you like us to go?"  
  
Michelle knew that the police in L.A. always knew of good places to eat so she said, "Why don't you pick a place? I'm not too acquainted with what's around here. Just no Chinese food, I know I have had too much of it, and I'm sure Tony, Chase, and Kim have also."  
  
"No problem. Hamburgers okay?" Richard asked.  
  
"Sounds great. Could you pick up some salads too." Michelle asked.  
  
"Know just the place for those two things. We'll be back in about a half-hour for it. They cook the burgers fresh."  
  
"Thanks guys. See you then." Michelle said backing away from the passenger window.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------  
  
Jack struggled to shave. Having to use only one arm was a pain in the ass. He cut himself a few times cursing quietly each time. He finished shaving the stubble that had accumulated over the past day and dried his face off with a towel. He walked into the bedroom and undressed. First, he undid the sling his arm was in and let it fall to the bed. He struggled to get the shirt off, trying to unbutton it with one hand. When he got to the pants, he was already frustrated with using only his right hand. He finally got them unbuttoned and unzipped. He let them fall to the floor and stepped out of them, happy to have the baggy and big clothes off.  
  
In only boxer shorts, he looked at himself in the mirror noticing the bruises and knots on his body. He slowly pulled the tape back on the gauze on his left shoulder and looked at the damage done to it. The sight of it made him grimace in pain. He thought to himself, Bauer you've done it again. With that thought, he heard the door open and close again. He suspected it was Kim and Michelle coming in to the apartment. Though a second later, he thought about it because he did not hear Tony say hi or any other sort of greeting. Opening the drawer in the nightstand next to the bed, he searched for his gun. He cursed to himself when he remembered that had been the gun he had taken earlier and now was in the hands of who ever took it from Darla. He limped over to the dresser hoping he still had the gun in there. He was not sure if he had it there or in what use to be his study, but was rarely used now. Finding a small .38 caliber revolver his father had given to him when he turned 21, Jack took it in his hand. It was not loaded, nor did Jack have bullets for it, but they wouldn't know that.  
  
Slowly Jack walked down the hallway towards the kitchen/living room area. He still did not hear anyone say anything. For a moment, he thought maybe he was just paranoid when he saw Mandy turn the corner holding Michelle at gunpoint. "Hello, Jack." She said when she saw him standing in the hallway gun pointed her way. "You look really good for a dead guy. Why don't you put the gun down? You don't want to have to clean her brains off your wall for the next few months nor deal with your friend on the couch who would be very upset."  
  
Jack kept the gun pointed at her. If he put the gun down, he figured they were all dead anyway so he took a chance.  
  
"Fine. Have it your way. Amber, why don't you show him who else we have with us. Maybe he will want to listen then." Mandy said moving back so that Jack could see that Amber had Kim at gun point.  
  
Jack's eyes ran back and forth from Kim to Amber trying to judge whether or not she would shoot Kim. Not wanting to take a chance, nor see his daughter die, Jack lowered the gun to his side.  
  
"On the floor, Jack." Mandy ordered.  
  
Jack let the gun fall out of his hand to the floor. "Where is Tony?" Jack asked not seeing Tony anywhere.  
  
"He's on the floor not moving like a good boy. He doesn't want to see his wife get hurt." Mandy paused for a moment contemplating what to do next. She could take just Jack back and make the boss happy or she could get Darla also. It would not be to hard to get Darla. She could use Michelle or Tony off each other and get one to go get Darla while she and Amber kept Jack and whoever else was left over company. "Walk over to the couch." Mandy ordered Jack.  
  
He followed her order. He stood by the couch and felt relief when he saw Tony on the floor with his hands on his head.  
  
Mandy ordered Tony, "Get up and keep your hands where I can see them." When Tony was off the floor she asked Jack, "Do you have anything I can tie them up with?"  
  
"No." Jack answered, not wanting to make her job easier.  
  
"I know you have something. Where is the good old duct tape that every person seems to have in their house? I bet Kim knows." Mandy said turning the gun on Jack. "Kim, where does your father keep the duct tape? Tell me or I'll have one less person to worry about tying up."   
  
Kim was staring at her father. He looked horrible at the moment. She had not known he was wounded badly. The gauze covered his entire shoulder, and the rest of his torso was covered in bruises. She thought to herself that he looked worse than when the people had tortured him during the nuclear bomb incident. She could not bear to see any more pain brought his way so she answered, "Inside the top left drawer in the kitchen."  
  
"Good girl. Let's go Jack, slowly." She said pushing Michelle towards the step up to the kitchen.  
  
Jack slowly opened the kitchen drawer with his good arm and rummaged through it to find the duct tape. Pulling it out of the drawer he held it up for her to take from him.  
  
"Now go tape Tony's hands behind his back." She ordered.  
  
Jack asked back, "How do you expect me to do that with one hand?"  
  
Mandy thought to herself, he had a point, not letting her anger show that she did not catch that she ordered, "Put the tape on the couch and then walk over to the wall and face it. If you turn around or move, I will have Amber shoot Kim. You too, Michelle." Mandy said pushing Michelle towards Jack.  
  
Michelle had almost fallen into Jack from the push. The two stood facing the wall, neither turning around to see what was going on.  
  
Almost inaudible Jack said to Michelle, "I'm sorry you got dragged into this."  
  
"Hey, no talking." Mandy said as she rolled the tape again around Tony's arms. When she finished she walked up to Michelle and began to tape her hands behind her back. When she finished duct taping Tony, Michelle, and Kim's hands, she walked over to Jack who was still facing the wall not moving. "Amber, watch them. I'm sure Jack would love to get dressed now, and I really don't want to look at him in his boxer shorts."   
  
Jack led Mandy back to his bedroom where he had his clothes laid out on the bed already.  
  
"If you try anything, your daughter will pay for it. So let's make this easy on all of us." Mandy said pointing her gun at Jack.  
  
Jack put the wife beater on first, and than slid his injured arm into the sleeve of the black button up shirt he had chosen earlier. After getting his left arm in. he struggled to get his right arm in. He was not used to only having one arm.  
  
Noticing the struggle, Mandy reluctantly went and helped him put the arm into the sleeve. She was expecting it to be a trick or something like that, but he never tried anything.  
  
He then grabbed the pants that laid on the bed and put them on. Only struggling slightly to button and zip them. When he finished, he said, "I didn't grab any socks out of the drawer." He was not going to walk over to the dresser and pull some out in case Mandy got a little antsy and thought he was going for something else, "I need to grab a pair out of the top drawer. If that's okay?"  
  
"I'll grab them." Mandy said not taking the gun of Jack as she opened the drawer and pulled a pair of socks out.   
  
Jack sat on the bed and cringed in pain as he bent over to put the sock on using one arm, which turned out to be quite a task. Finishing putting his socks on Jack looked at her and stated, "The sling for my arm is on the bed. I need to clip it back again before I put it on."  
  
"Fine." Mandy said waiting for him. She knew why he kept telling her what he was doing, he was afraid she would react thinking he was doing something else. He was afraid for his daughter, and was making sure that nothing he did would affect her.  
  
Jack could not get the clip to work with just one arm so Mandy ordered, "Grab it and walk out to the living room. Amber will help you button your shirt and get the sling on."  
  
Doing as he was told he led her back out to the living room. Mandy told Amber, "Help him finish getting dressed."  
  
Amber set her gun down on the TV away from Tony and the others. She then walked over and stood in front of Jack taking his shirt in her hands and began buttoning the buttons for him. She reached the last one and said, "Hand me the sling."  
  
Jack handed it to her, and stood there feeling stupid because he could not even dress himself. She redid the sling strap for Jack and put it over his neck for him. He then took his bad arm grimacing in pain again and put it in the sling.  
  
Amber walked behind him and adjusted the strap for him on the sling. She also fixed his collar that was sticking up in the air. When she finished, she walked over and grabbed her gun off the TV again.  
  
Mandy looked at Michelle and asked, "When are the others going to be back?"  
  
"I don't know. They ran to go get something to eat."  
  
"Amber, take him down to the van we have to get ready to leave. Pull the Van around back we'll meet you there." Mandy ordered her, and then went on to remind Jack, "Don't forget that I have your daughter so don't try anything."  
  
Amber put her gun under her shirt and grabbed Jack's good arm and led him out of the apartment towards the van.  
  
On the way down, Jack began to ask her, "Why are you doing this? I knew your father and he would not want you to be doing this." Jack was not sure if mentioning her father would cause her to get angry or think about what she was doing, but it was the only card he had to play it. If they wanted him dead he would already be dead.  
  
She took the barrel of her gun jabbing him in his injured shoulder causing him to grimace in pain, she ordered, "Shut up and walk."  
  
Jack continued to walk down the steps. Before they reached the door leading to the outside world, she put her gun in her belt and told him, "Don't forget Mandy still has your daughter."  
  
"What is she going to do with them?"  
  
"I'm not sure. They'll be down in a minute. Keep moving." Amber said putting her arm around him leading him towards a black van that was parked across the street down.  
  
When they reached the van, she pulled the back doors open and waited for Jack to get into the back and sit on a bench inside. She closed the door as she slid in behind him. She pulled her gun out again and continued to point it at him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------  
  
Mandy pulled Tony aside from the women. Walking him back to Jack's room, she had him sit on Jack's bed. "You are going to do something for me." Mandy said looking at Tony.  
  
"Yeah. What's that?" Tony asked trying to act tough.  
  
"You are going to get Darla for me. I know CTU has her and I need her."  
  
"Why would I do that?" Tony asked knowing the answer, but he wanted to hear it so he knew for sure.  
  
"Because I have your wife and Kim. You wouldn't want them to get hurt." Mandy answered coolly.  
  
"What about Jack?" Tony asked.  
  
"He's going to stay with me. I think you are getting a fair deal, you, your wife, and Kim get to walk away from this situation alive for the price of one person."  
  
"How am I sure you won't change your mind?"  
  
"I can give you my word that no harm will come to you, your wife, or Kim is you do as I ask, and you will be released after I have Darla in my possession. That's all. Take the deal or I'll kill all three of you right now."  
  
"Fine. Where do you want me to take Darla to?"  
  
"I'll call you with the details later. I'm going to cut your hands free. If you try anything, everyone dies." Mandy said pulling out a knife from her pocket. She opened the knife and cut Tony's hands free. "Wait here ten minutes and then take off. Where are the pills the doctor gave to Jack?"  
  
"Jack has them, I believe." Tony answered sitting on Jack's bed thinking about a possible way out of his current situation. Nothing coming to mind, Tony went with the flow. He figured that is what Jack would do. Wait for the opportunity and go for it. The moment wasn't coming so he would go with it until it did.  
  
Mandy walked out of the room and helped Michelle and Kim off the couch, leading them to the same van Jack was in. When she opened the back door, Mandy said to Amber, "You drive. I'll sit in back with them."  
  
Amber got out of the van and went to the driver seat. She started the van and took off towards an unknown location.  
  
Jack looked around trying to find someway of knowing where they were taking them. Mandy scooted over to sit next to him. Having Michelle and Kim across from him, she asked him, "Where are the pills the doctor gave you?"  
  
"In my pocket." Jack answered.  
  
"Get them out." Mandy ordered.  
  
Jack reached with his good hand and pulled the pills out of his pocket. He handed the bottle to Mandy. After studying the bottle for a second she handed it back to him and ordered him, "Take two of them now."  
  
Jack fiddled with the lid unable to pop it open with just his one hand. He hated the child safety measures put on the pill bottles it only stopped everyone from being able to open them.   
  
Frustrated with Jack Mandy wrenched the bottle away from him and opened it, taking two of the white pills out. She put them in Jack's hand and said, "Take them."  
  
"I need water or something." Jack answered back.  
  
Amber reached over to the cup holder and pulled out the bottle of water she had with her and handed it back to Jack saying, "Here."  
  
Jack last hope went away with that. He knew what two pills would do to him. It was not enough to overdose, but enough to put him out for awhile. He tried to stall that by asking for water. He knew he could take them without water, but they didn't know that. He put the two pills in his mouth and took a gulp of water.  
  
"Open your mouth." Mandy ordered. Jack did as he was asked and showed her that the pills were not hiding under his tongue or anywhere else for that matter.  
  
"Good boy." Mandy commended him taking out her cell phone to call Tony. When he answered the phone she asked, "Have you left yet?"  
  
"I'm leaving now." Tony answered nervously.  
  
"I'll call back in twenty minutes you better have her by then and on your way out of CTU." Mandy warned.  
  
"I will." _____________________________________________________________________ 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18  
  
The drugs had taken over Jack's mind and body. His head started to drop and his eyes trying to close. He struggled to keep them open. The battle was well noticed by all, and finally, he lost as his eyes closed and his body relaxed. Kim was worried about her father, she was not sure what pills he had taken, and two might have been too much for him. She stared at his chest and watched it slowly go in and out as he breathed. She continued to watch looking for anything irregular.  
  
Mandy noticed Kim's alert eyes on her father and thought for a minute to say that he would be fine because she knew Kim was worried about the amount of pills he had taken, but then she thought why would she? Let Kim be worried there was no reason to give out that information. Sometimes, Mandy had a soft side left in her. It only showed up every now and then, and it reminded her she was still human. She hated those moments because she was human, but not humane. She had no reason for what she did. She had a relatively normal childhood, and adulthood. She hooked up with the wrong people in college and learned a lot of interesting things from them. She learned she was good at the business and never looked back since.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------  
  
Chase and Richard got back to Jack's apartment and noticed that Michelle's car was gone.   
  
Richard asked Chase, "Do you think they left?"  
  
"I don't know, why? Let's go check the apartment. Something is not right." Chase said leaving the food in the car and getting out. They walked slowly towards Jack's apartment building looking around for anything other than Michelle's car being gone. When they got inside, Chase pulled his Beretta out from its holster under his coat, as did Richard. They slowly walked up the steps to Jack's apartment. When they reached the door, Chase tried the door handle. It opened and Richard went into the apartment gun ready for whatever he found. After a minute of sweeping the apartment, they found no one there, nor a sign of struggle.  
  
"What the fuck?" Richard asked confused.  
  
"I don't know what's up. Let me try Tony's cell phone." Chase said pulling out his cell phone.  
  
Tony answered his phone on the first ring, "Yeah?"  
  
"Tony where are you guys at? We're back at Jack's apartment and no one is here." Chase said confused.  
  
"Jack wanted to move them somewhere else." Tony said not wanting to tell Chase what happened in case Richard or Chase were dirty. He was almost sure Chase wasn't, but someone had told Mandy and the others that Jack was alive, and at his apartment building. Tony checked to make sure no one was watching Jack's place before he took Jack there.   
  
"Where at? We can drive over to meet you guys." Chase persisted.  
  
"Chase, can you keep this one sided?" Tony asked knowing that Chase would continue to press until Tony told the truth.  
  
"Yeah." Chase said wondering why Tony did not want Richard to know what they were talking about.   
  
"Mandy and some other woman showed up at the apartment when Kim and Michelle came over. They had Michelle and Kim at gunpoint. They have Jack, Kim, and Michelle right now. I'm going to get Darla to trade for Michelle and Kim." Tony said pausing for a second.  
  
"What about Jack? How is he?" Chase asked now knowing what Tony was thinking. Chase put his hand over the phone and told Richard, "I have to use the bathroom real fast. I'll be out in a minute." Chase went to Jack's bathroom and closed the door.  
  
"She's going to keep Jack." Tony answered.  
  
"I don't think it was Richard who gave the information out. I've known Richard most of my life and he would not do something like that. Maybe it's coming from CTU. Michelle could have told someone where she and Kim were going, and when Kim stopped crying or looking sad, as she naturally would have after finding out her father was not dead, someone could have picked up on it and relayed it." Chase deduced.  
  
"Are you sure about Richard?" Tony asked trusting Chase's judgment.  
  
"Yes. I would stake my life on it."   
  
"You just might be. Fine, I got an idea. I'm not sure where the meeting is going down. Get in your car and drive towards CTU. I'll call you with the details of the meeting. You will pick up Jim, Darla's friend at CTU and go to the place the meeting is. Hopefully, we can somehow take over and get Jack, Michelle, and Kim out of this." Tony stated not sure if they could actually do it. It was five people three of which were hurt against God knows how many possibly.   
  
"Okay. I'll leave the line open." Chase said hanging up the phone. He walked out of the bathroom and relayed all the information to Richard as they walked back down to the car.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------  
  
Amber exited from the highway and drove down an old road leading to an abandoned factory. She pulled behind the factory building and put the van in park. Mandy got out of the van as did Amber. Once outside they discussed what they should do during the exchange, they both agreed they needed more people that what they had. Amber recommended calling their new contact and letting her know that the full deal might be reachable now. Mandy agreed with her and walked away to make the phone call.  
  
The woman answered the phone on the second ring with, "Hello, Mandy."  
  
"Hello. We might be able to reach the full deal and then some. I have Jack in my position now, and am in the process of getting Darla. I need some help though. I'm a little short handed and I don't want to bring my employer in on this because most of those guys are idiots and would screw this up. If you are still interested, all I want from you in return is some people to help out. Are you interested?"  
  
"Yes. Where are you at?"   
  
"The meeting place for the exchange tonight. It was the only place I could figure to use on such short notice." Earlier, they had taken off to exchange the virus when the opportunity came up to get Jack and Mandy backed out at her employers wishes to do the deal later. "Earlier, the reason we backed out was because there was a chance of getting Jack. One of my sources communicated with me that he was in fact alive and moving. I am sorry for the unprofessional act, but I was only following my employer's orders." Mandy explained.  
  
"That is fine. My men and I will be there in ten." The woman answered.  
  
Mandy hung her phone up and called Tony's phone again, "Where are you?" She said before he had a chance to even say hello.  
  
"Right outside CTU. I'm going in now to get her. I'll need a little more time. It took longer than planned because of traffic." Tony said worried that his stalling might create problems.  
  
"Fine. You have ten more minutes. Call me when you are back in your car. If you do not show up by the end of the time allotted, you will find your wife and Kim dead." Mandy announced coldly.  
  
"I'll be there." Tony said hanging up the phone as he walked into the CTU clinic where Darla and Jim sat.   
  
When he reached Darla's room he explained what was going on and she agreed to help him out. He was not sure what he would do if she did not agree, probably take her out at gunpoint. She dressed in the clothes she had on earlier ignoring the bullet holes in them. Jim said he would wait five minutes after they left to walk out of CTU. Tony and Darla exited CTU without anyone noticing, or so Tony thought.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------  
  
Mandy's phone rang a few minutes after she hung up from Tony, "What?" She answered.  
  
"It's me. Tony just left with Darla." The man's voice said quietly.  
  
"Good. Was he alone?"  
  
"As far as I can tell, yes. No one else is here. Michelle, Kim, and Chase are all out in the field. That leaves only Chappelle."   
  
"Good. No one suspects anything?"  
  
"No. No one knows that Jack is still alive, but Chappelle and a few who caught on from Kim's mood when she returned to Tony's office earlier with Michelle."  
  
"Good. Call me if anything changes." Mandy said hanging the phone up.  
  
The woman and her men pulled into the abandoned factory. Mandy counted at least ten cars full of people when the woman got out of the lead car Mandy felt like asking her if she expected a war, but knew the woman was vague on the side of location.  
  
"Hello. Thanks for coming." Mandy said as a greeting.  
  
"Where is he?" The woman asked referring to Jack.  
  
"In the van." Mandy said pointing at the van.   
  
"Let me see him. Tell my men where you want them or they can figure it out on their own if you wish. When is the deal going down?"  
  
"About twenty minutes from now." Mandy answered leading the woman towards the black van Jack and the others sat in. She opened the back of the van and let the woman look in on Jack.  
  
When the doors opened, both Kim and Michelle looked at who it was opening them. They have not heard anything for the past few minutes and were starting to get worried. They were not sure what was going on. When they saw the woman with Mandy, both of their faces registered shock. Kim thought to herself, it couldn't be. She was dead. She saw her after her father had killed her. She was dead there was no way she had come back to life.   
  
The woman said in a cool voice, "Hello Kim."  
  
"But you 're dead." Kim finally said allowed.  
  
"Am I? That's interesting." The woman answered. She then turned her attention to Mandy, "Let's move him somewhere else. Tony is not a stupid man and he will try something. He always wanted to be like Jack, but never was good enough. He will bring others with him. If we move Jack out of here, then he won't try much of anything in the fear of losing Jack. See, unlike Jack, Tony gives a shit about his co-workers' well being and would think twice before endangering their lives like Jack has in the past."   
  
"Okay. Can you have one of your guys drive him out of here then?" Mandy inquired.  
  
"Yes. One of my men and I will drive him out of here. Why is he unconscious?"  
  
"Easier to keep control of him. It's drug-induced. I don't think he can take much more in the way of physical pain, so I had him take two of these. It's enough to keep him out as long as we need him to be."   
  
"Good. Ethan, come here." The woman ordered.  
  
A man about two times the size of Jack walked up, "Yes ma'am."  
  
"Grab him out of the back. Be careful with his left shoulder. I want you to move him to the car."  
  
"Yes ma'am." Ethan said getting into the back of the van and gently grabbing Jack's right arm and putting it around his neck lifting Jack up so that he could pull him out of the van. When he reached the end of the van he laid Jack down and got out. Again he maneuvered Jack so that he could carry Jack to the car. As he was walking away he called back at the woman, "Do you want me to secure him anyway?"  
  
"No, he should stay asleep long enough for us to move him." She answered back.  
  
Kim looked out at the woman wondering how she was there; she called out to her, "What are you doing with my father?"  
  
The woman looked back at Kim who was worried for her father. She did not answer her, just stood there looking at her. Not sure what she wanted with Jack. She just wanted him for no particular reason at all. She was almost relived earlier when they had said he was dead and they could not deliver because she had no real excuse for wanting him. She had said he had information she wanted, but in truth she already knew everything she needed to know, and he was out of the game so long that any information he might have would be outdated. She said good-bye to Mandy and told her to change the meeting place for tonight. The woman walked to the car Jack was now sitting in the back seat of. Ethan opened the driver side back door for her and she got in next to Jack. She looked at him and noted that he looked peaceful at the moment.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------  
  
Tony's cell phone rang again. "Yeah?"  
  
"Where are you?" Mandy asked.  
  
"We are just out of CTU. Where are we supposed to meet you?"  
  
"Hagerty Steel's abandoned factory. You know where that is at?"  
  
"Yes. I'll be there in ten minutes." Tony answered.  
  
"See you then. And you better be alone." Mandy warned before hanging up the phone.  
  
Tony hung up and waited three minutes before calling Chase. When Chase answered the phone all Tony said was, "It's at the old Hagerty Steel factory." He hung the phone up in case Mandy called back.  
  
"Is Jack okay?" Darla asked knowing that Jack was supposedly dead earlier.  
  
"He's a little messed up, but he was walking and talking fine." Tony did not want to give the full extent of what was wrong with him. He knew Darla already felt bad about earlier and would feel worse once she saw Jack, until then, he needed her mind clear of the guilt and ready for the situation at hand. "When we get there, look for Jack and the others." Tony ordered, "I'll be busy trying to stall long enough for Chase and the others to get here."   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------  
  
Chase was driving well over the speed limit and still scared that he would not make it to the place in time. Richard looked at the speedometer and said, "Damn, are you going fast enough?"  
  
"No. I'm not sure if we will catch them in time."   
  
"We will. We're only about ten miles from the place now. Slow down before you attract attention." Richard said calmly.   
  
"Fine." Chase answered as he took his foot off the gas pedal and felt the car start to slow down. He found the road to exit on and went up about a hundred yards before turning off into the field. He parked the car and the men got out and jogged towards the sight of the trade. When they reached the edge of the field they could see Tony's car pull into the front of the factory. A van came around from the back and a woman got out of it.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------  
  
Tony put the car in park. He did not want to turn it off in case he had to make a quick escape. He avoided looking behind him or around to see if Chase was there. He prayed they were, and if not, he would try his best. He got out of the car as the person got out of the van. The woman Mandy called Amber yelled over, "Where is Darla?"  
  
"Where are Michelle and Kim?" Tony yelled back unwilling to budge. In reality, Darla was lying in the back seat of the car hiding out of sight, but anyone with a brain would figure she was there.  
  
The woman walked around to the back of the van and got Michelle and Kim out. "There, Where is Darla?"  
  
"Where's Jack? I would at least like to know he is alive, and would stay that way?" Tony yelled back.   
  
As he did so Mandy walked out of the back of the van and said, "Jack is not here at the moment. He is alive though, just ask these two. Right Michelle?"  
  
Michelle shook her head in agreement and said, "They had him take something that put him out. But he was alive when another person came and took him."  
  
Tony was unsure of how to proceed. He could go in guns blazing to save Kim and Michelle without making the trade, and possibly put Jack in a bad situation or he could give in and do as he had agreed upon originally. Before he could make his mind up, Chase and the others came out with guns blazing.   
  
Tony ordered Mandy, "Walk away from them now or they will shoot you. You are outnumbered, give up and I will help you out. All I want is Michelle, Kim, and Jack. That's all. If you give me them, I'll let you walk out of here alive."  
  
"No deal." Mandy said as a large group of men came out of the factory and from behind it. "You are the one that is outnumbered. You have a choice now, I'm going to be nice this once. You have your men put their guns down and give me Darla, and I'll let you have the two women. Otherwise, you will all die."  
  
Tony contemplated their chances of winning and they were slim. He figured there were at least twenty men out there, and that's not counting the once he could not see. He looked down at his chest and noticed three red dots from laser sights. He took his gun and set it on the ground. He yelled back and Chase and them, "Put your guns down."  
  
The others followed his orders. They knew there was no way to walk out of this situation alive if they tried to fight. They were outnumbered. It was always better to retreat so you could fight another day. Darla got out of the back of the car and yelled at Mandy, "Let the women go and I will walk towards you at the same time."  
  
Mandy pushed Kim forward and said to Kim and Michelle, "Walk."  
  
For a second as Darla passed Kim and Michelle, she had the urge to jump on the two and knock them to the ground to allow the gun battle to ensue, but she knew even if she had, there was no way for them to win it so she continued to walk to Mandy. When she finally reached Mandy, she asked, "Where is Jack at?"  
  
Mandy answered her quietly, "You'll see him in a few. Get into the back of the van with my friend here, and be a good girl so we don't have to kill your friends anyway."  
  
Mandy looked at Tony and yelled, "Nice doing business with you. My men here will wait ten minutes after I leave and then let you can leave. Just don't follow us." 


	19. Chapter 19

Tony was not sure what was going to happen next. He had Michelle and Kim now, but the men still stood there ready to gun them down. Tony hoped that Mandy would keep her word. The ten minutes were some of the longest ten minutes in Tony's life.   
  
Finally, one of the men yelled over, "You can leave now. Don't try to follow them."  
  
Tony let out his breath. It felt like he had been holding it for the entire ten minutes. Chase, Richard, Jim, Kim, Michelle, and Tony all piled into the one car and drove off. Tony stopped to let Richard, Jim, and Chase out to go to the other car. Kim waited for the others to leave before she started in on Tony, "What are we going to do? They still have my father."  
  
"Kim, we are going to try to track them. He is relatively fine right now. If they wanted him dead, they would have killed all of us at his apartment. We will find him." Tony said half-believing himself.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------  
  
Jack woke up on a bed. He went to move his right arm when he heard the familiar clink of a metal against another metallic thing. He looked up to where his right hand hung and noticed the handcuffs. At that moment he also noticed that his feet were taped together too. Not knowing where he was, he tried to take in his surroundings when he started to feel nauseated.  
  
The door to the hotel room opened. Amber walked in and set a paper bag down on the small table with her keys. She went back to the door and locked it. When she turned around, she noticed that Jack was awake. She walked up to his side and asked, "How do you feel?"  
  
Jack was surprised that she was asking a question like that. Before he could speak again, another wave a nausea came over him and he knew that he was going to be sick soon. "I think I might be sick." He said holding back his upchuck reflex.  
  
Amber ran over to the table and grabbed the keys off it. She could tell that he was not feeling well by the lack of color in his face, but just to be safe, she said, "If you fuck with me, you are going to get hurt. There are more guys outside in a car." She uncuffed his right hand, untapped his feet, and helped him to the bathroom.   
  
No sooner did he reach the toilet he began to puke. He sat kneeling by the toilet had hanging over it puking up bile from his empty stomach.   
  
Amber stood in the back never being one to handle someone else who was sick. She was not sure how to proceed. This clearly was not part of a scheme of his to get free. She went out to the bedroom area again opening the small fridge grabbing out a bottle of water the hotel was kind enough to provide. She returned to the bathroom where Jack now sat leaning against the shower door. She opened the bottle of water and handed it to him.  
  
He took the water and took a big gulp trying to get the taste of the acidic bile. When he finished, he felt another wave of nausea and went back to his previous position and began puking again. After a few minutes of dry heaving, he finally sat up again laying against the door of the shower. He hated getting sick especially when it was nothing but bile. That had to be the worse kind of sickness. He sat shivering suddenly cold on the floor not knowing where he was at or sure of how he got there.  
  
Amber noticed that Jack was shaking and sweating. She walked out to the bedroom area and grabbed the blanket off the bed and returned to the bathroom. She put the blanket on Jack and sat on the floor next to him, unsure of how to proceed., and unsure of how she felt. Earlier that day she wanted him dead and had hurt him, and now she wanted to comfort him. Earlier, she hated him for setting her father up to die, but now she knows that was not the case, and Jack felt horrible for losing men over in Kosovo. The words he said to her leaving his apartment got to her, she tried to hide it, but the thought of what she was now doing with her life being disappointing to her father was not just Jack's way of getting to her, was telling the truth. "Are you feeling better now?" She asked Jack full of confusion.  
  
"I think I'm done puking, if that is what you are asking." Jack said with more anger than he wanted to show.  
  
"Than why don't we move you back to the bed where you can get under more covers and warm up? I think you have a fever, but I'm not sure." Amber said standing up. She helped Jack stand and walked next to him back to the bed. She pulled the covers back for him and he laid down in the bed. She pulled the covers back up over him putting the main one back on top of the bed. She walked over to the table and sat down watching him, not sure if the thought of food would sound appetizing to him or make him sick again. She asked anyway, "Do you want something to eat?"  
  
"No" Jack said in almost a whine.   
  
"Okay, let me know if you do." She watched him slowly, his body stopped shaking and his features relaxed. Watching his chest slowly fall and rise, she thought she could almost tell the time in which he went from awake to asleep again. She watched for a few more minutes before she got up out of the chair and turned the TV on in a low volume.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------  
  
When Tony got back to CTU. he explained all of what happened to Chappelle who was furious with Tony for taking Darla and Jim out of CTU.  
  
"I had to. They were going to kill two of our agents, and Jack." He said trying to obscure the fact that he did it to save his wife, and friends.  
  
Chappelle knowing all too well said, "No, they were going to kill your wife. That is all you cared about. You have now lost a federal agent and an ex-federal agent again. How am I going to explain this to Division?"  
  
"I'm not sure. If you don't mind, I have to call the President and brief him on this. He wanted me to keep in apprised of the situation." Tony stated worried that in a moment he would lose his job.  
  
"Fine. I'll figure out what to say to Division." Chappelle thought to himself This is the second time in two years I have put my ass on the line for Jack. What is wrong with me?   
  
"Thank you, sir." Tony said as Chappelle left the office.   
  
Chase came up to Tony's office and sat down on the couch waiting for Tony to tell him what happened.  
  
"I got to call the President and let him know what happened. Chappelle is going to cover things from Division. Can you get an APB out on Jack, Darla, and the women we saw today with the local police and other federal agencies? Then talk to some of your contacts and see if they know anything about the other woman today. She's completely unknown to us. Why didn't Jack mention her earlier?" Tony asked as if talking to himself.  
  
"Consider it done." Chase said standing up and leaving Tony to call the President.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------  
  
Palmer was not happy with Tony nor Jack for that matter after Tony finished briefing him. He said good-bye and walked out to the balcony to be alone. The Secret Service hated it when he did it, but he had to think. He could not be pissed that Jack was taken again because it was not Jack's fault. Jack went home like Palmer had asked of him and he had no control of the people finding him. What in the hell do these people want with Jack? He's been out of the game for a while now so he wouldn't have any current information, Tony or Chase would have been a better grab.  
  
One of the Secret Service agents walked out onto the balcony and said, "Excuse me, sir. A Mr. Jonathan Watts is here to see you. He says he works for the CIA."  
  
"I'll see him. I know him and need to talk to him." The president said surprised at first that the man would show up at the hotel.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Jack woke up with a jerk. He was still cold, but now he was covered in sweat. He looked around the room and noticed that Amber was nowhere in sight. If he was going to get out of this, now would be the time. He wondered if they had Kim and Michelle stashed somewhere else. He then thought about Tony, and where he was. They never brought him down. Jack slid out of the bed. When he stood up, he felt dizzy. He knew he was running a fever and that was why he was dizzy, his head was pounding, and his ears were ringing. All of these things happened when his temperature would rise.   
  
Having his bearings now, he walked towards the door only bumping into the night stand once. Before he opened the door he remembered Amber's warning earlier, "If you fuck with me, you are going to get hurt. There are more guys outside in a car." He wondered Are those other guys were really outside? If so, were they still there? He was just going to have to find out. He turned the doorknob and nothing happened. He unlocked the door and tried it again this time getting results. The door opened. He was on the second floor of a hotel. Now outside on the balcony area of the hotel, he looked down at the parking lot to see if there were any suspicious cars or people hanging around. He skimmed the windows of the cars and did not notice anyone sitting in any of them. He continued down the balcony towards the steps that led down to the first floor. He used the rail to walk towards the stairs feeling dizzy still. He reached the first floor area that was a small area with vending machines. He was almost out he thought to himself. When he went to turn the corner to go through the parking lot, he felt through his sweat soaked shirt a cold hard thing pressed into his back. He stopped in his tracks and turned his head to find a man he did not know standing there with a silenced Glock 17 handgun pointed at him.  
  
"Let's go back to the room now Jack. This was enough for an adventure today. You don't look like you're in any condition to be walking around like this anyway." The man smiled at Jack. He had won, and Jack knew it.  
  
Jack led them back towards the hotel room. When he got inside, he stood with his one good arm at his side. "What now?"   
  
"Why don't you sit down on the bed?" The man asked locking the door.   
  
Jack walked towards the bed, but before he reached the bed the man walked over to him and smashed the butt of his Glock into Jacks face. Jack fell back against the night stand putting his one good hand on the wall to keep him from falling on the floor.   
  
"Sit down." The man commanded in an angry voice.  
  
Jack sat on the bed using his hand to try to stop the blood from the new cut on his face from dripping into his eye.   
  
The unknown man walked over to Jack and yanked his good arm away from his face. He then pulled a pair of handcuffs from the handcuff holder attached to his belt in the back hidden by his shirt, he cuffed Jack's good arm to the bed again. He then walked over to the chair and sat down waiting for Amber to return so he could complain to her about leaving Jack alone and unrestrained.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------  
  
Amber left the room for what she calculated as ten minutes to go and get food. She had not eaten all day and even if Jack said he was not hungry, he had not eaten all day either. When she walked back into the room, she noticed he had blood trickling down the side of his face onto his shirt, and that he was cuffed to the bed again. She then noticed one of the woman's guys sitting in the room with him.   
  
The first thing out of the guy's mouth was, "You are fucking stupid, bitch. Leaving him unattended and unrestrained, you are just asking him to escape. I'm not sure if I should leave you alone with him. What are you guys playing house now? I see you brought him food."  
  
"Fuck you. I was told to make sure he was comfortable until whoever it was gets here. If you have a problem, call your boss. You guys were just supposed to stay outside."  
  
"I was outside. I noticed him leaving the room and getting ready to make a run for it. I stopped him."  
  
"By bashing him in the head, that's smart."  
  
"No, I did that later so he would not try it again."  
  
"That's real smart. Now get the fuck out." Amber said pissed off that he had gone directly against the woman's orders and hit Jack again.  
  
The man got up from the chair and left the room. He had made his point and that was all he wanted to do. He would return to his car and wait for her to mess up again. He was tired of cleaning up other people's messes all of the time, and he was really tired of baby-sitter duty.  
  
Amber walked over to Jack and checked the new cut on his face. It was still bleeding so she walked to the bathroom and found a band-aid to put over the cut by his eyebrow. When she returned, she gently put the band-aid on saying, "You really shouldn't have done that. He could have done worse, and you are in no position to take or give a beating at the moment."  
  
Jack did not answer her or look at her, he knew she was right, and he would not admit it. "Why are you doing this? Why not just walk away now before you get hurt? You are a smart girl and you know this is not what your father would have wanted you to do."  
  
"Don't analyze me. You don't even know me. I do this because it is paying me. I started out for vengeance and now it's money."  
  
"If you help me, I'll help you. No one knows about your involvement yet. I did not mention you to anyone and I can get Michelle and Kim to stay quiet about you. That won't be hard. I can say that you were kind of forced into it earlier today. You were given the choice help us or die, and you did what every other sane person would do. Just help me get out of here and find my daughter and Michelle."  
  
"They're fine. We traded them earlier for Darla." Amber said feeling she should relieve some of his stress.   
  
"Fine then, it's easier you help me get out of here and let them know where Darla would be. I promise you I will keep you out of jail and safe." Jack said trying not to sound too much like he was begging.  
  
"You talk as if you know me. You saw me maybe once in my life. You knew my father, who was not the best man in the world. He chose to go on the mission with you and leave me and my mother behind. Every time he came back from one of his missions, he would promise never to leave again and always did. For most of my life, I never saw him so when he died, it was not that big of a change. He chose his job over me. Do you know how that feels? I loved him and hated him at the same time, so don't tell me about myself. You have never had to live like I had to. My mother went crazy after he died and I was shipped from family member to family member until there wasn't anyone left, so I was left on my own at sixteen. Ever since then, I have been trying to survive. DON'T LECTURE ME ABOUT WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MY LIFE!" Amber said almost in tears from anger.  
  
"I can help you. You don't have to live like this. I can keep you safe and even help you start over. I know what it's like, believe me." Jack said trying to get through. He knew he was almost there; just a little more pushing and he would be there.  
  
"How are you going to protect me? You couldn't even protect your own wife or your daughter for that matter. How many times has Kim been kidnapped or in some other sort of danger?" She was pissed now and nothing was going to stop her from telling him like it is.  
  
Jack looked away and stayed silent, pissed off. All of the anger of losing Teri coming back. He thought he had gotten rid of all of it the day he killed Nina, but sometimes it came back. Killing Nina did not and he knew it would not, bring Teri back, but he thought it might have given him closure, but it had not. He still felt horrible at times because of it, depression slowly coming in and out from time to time because of it. He no longer hated himself as much as he had the year after his wife's death, but it still hurt and nothing could take that back, not even dying because he knew that there was no chance he would get into heaven if it existed. He had killed and hurt too many people in his life and that would be one more thing he would have to atone for.   
  
Amber walked away still pissed, but now more pissed at herself. She went to the table where she had set the food down. She grabbed one of the bags and handed it to Jack, "Here's some soup. I know you said you weren't hungry, but you haven't eaten all day and you need to eat."  
  
Jack went to take it from her when the familiar clink of the cuff sounded. She set the bag on the bed and went to go find her keys. When she found them she uncuffed his hand from the bed. He grabbed the bag taking it's contents out. A Styrofoam bowl of soup, there was no spoon in the bag so he took the lid off and drank the chicken noodle soup out of the bowl. When he got halfway through, he started to feel sick again so he set it down and turned his thought back to trying to get through to Amber.   
  
Amber sat at the table eating a sandwich from the deli she got Jack's soup from. She was happy to see that he took food from her. She still had a hint of anger, but started to feel bad for rubbing his wife in his face. Why was she feeling bad? She thought all of the sudden. Why am I caring for him? I am supposed to watch him and then turn him over to the woman and he will probably not make it through that. She told herself to stop getting attached, but there was something there he had something she could not explain. She was really embarrassed at the apartment when she asked him to help her move in, she almost did not go through with it. When she heard him singing and then saw him, he was not the monster she had created all of those nights in her mind. He wasn't even guilty of killing her father she believed now. If he wasn't, then who was? "Did you ever find out who set you guys up?" She asked breaking the silence.  
  
"No." Jack bended the truth, it was not a lie because he had not set them up to fail, or so he promised. Jack was not sure if the President had been lying about that part. He no longer thought he could tell when the President was lying because he had fallen twice for a lie from him.  
  
"Do you think it was someone in the government? The people who gave the go ahead on the mission?"  
  
Jack looked at her and said, "It most likely was someone in the government. Very few people knew about the mission and very fewer people knew when and where and how it was going to go down. A lot less knew what equipment we were going to be using. Just which of those people did it, I'm not sure. The only person who would ever know for sure was killed and he took that to the grave with him unfortunately. I'm sure it wasn't him, but he probably knew who it was."  
  
"Do you think you'll ever find them?"  
  
"Probably not. I tried for a long time while I was in CTU, but noting ever came out of it." Jack said now lying because he knew he would find out as soon as he got out of this situation.   
  
"How does a person as intelligent as yourself get wrapped up in CTU anyways?" She asked trying to keep the conversation going, and to get to know more about him to see if she could trust him.   
  
"It's a long story." He said trying to avoid answering the question.   
  
"We've got time to waste. I promise none of it will leave this room. Just between you and me." She said reassuringly.  
  
He didn't want to tell her, but maybe if he did, she would see that he had a similar background and she would trust him more. Taking a deep breath. he exhaled sighing, "I left for the Army the day after my high school graduation. I excelled in the Army's basic training. Someone recommended me to try for Delta. So I went into that after basic training. They busted my balls in it and I kept rising to the occasion. After that, I was assigned to a Delta unit and went on missions with them. A few years of that, I started to go to college to get my bachelors in English Literature, and then my masters in criminology. I did more years in Delta getting certified for S.W.A.T. when we started more urban fighting tactics. I ran into an old friend right before I had to choose whether or not I wanted to continue another four or more years in Delta after about ten years of it. My friend recruited me to work for CTU at the time I had offers from many different organizations to join them. Coral Snake, CIA, FBI, ATF, and even the LAPD. I chose to go with the CIA and work for CTU more specify. Richard Walsh, my friend, recruited me and helped me get in. I owed him a lot so I figured that was one way to make it up. I also had a family then and I couldn't keep leaving on missions for Delta and not know if I would return. Kim was two or three when we moved to L.A. and I started to work for CTU full-time."  
  
"What made you join the Army right out of high school?"  
  
"It was the only way to escape a situation I was in. I could not afford college, and even if I could, I would not be able to escape my past. That's why I joined the Army. There no one could touch me, or so I figured."  
  
"What about your parents? You know all about my father, and probably my mother." She said trying to coax him into talking about his parents. He was clearly avoiding something.  
  
"My mother left when I was ten. I lived with my father and older sister Carol until I joined the Army. I never saw my mother until I went to visit my father in the hospital the day he died."  
  
"What was that like just having a father?" She asked, not knowing what it was to have a father because she had never had one.  
  
"Why don't we talk about you? Really, why do you want to know this stuff anyway? I really shouldn't be telling you all things considered." He said trying to avoid going into it more. He knew if he told her she would trust him more, but the problem was opening up the old wounds.  
  
"Come on, it was probably like the Brady bunch only without the mother, and all of the siblings. Am I right? You were probably rich too."  
  
Suddenly flushed with anger he said, "It was not the Brady bunch, not even close. My father was an alcoholic. He would beat my mom before she left and after she left, he was going to turn on my sister, but I always seemed to jump in to take the beating instead. After a while, he just started going at me instead of her. He spent every dime we had on alcohol and gambling. When I was old enough, I got a job and lied to him about it so my sister could go to college off what little I made. I would work every day after school until early hours in the morning doing anything I could. Every weekend, I spent working and all of it either went to helping my sister in college or buying food. He figured I was out getting into trouble." Jack looked away trying to control the anger that was rising in him.   
  
Before Amber could say anything, the door opened and Mandy and the woman walked in. Mandy noticed the tension in the room and ignored it hoping no one else would. Jack had been staring at the bathroom and did not look over to see who had walked in, but when he did, he did not have enough will power to keep the look of shock off his face.   
  
Noticing the same shock on Jack's face that had been on Kim's face. When she saw this woman, Amber began to wonder who she was.   
  
"Hello Jack." The woman said in a cold happy voice.  
  
"You are dead. I know you are dead. I killed you myself. I shot you three times point blank. You were dead."   
  
"You are not the best assassin in the world Jack. I mean first you fail to kill Victor, then you can't even kill me when I was helpless. Maybe you are not as good as everyone thinks you are."  
  
"You are not here." Jack said sure of himself. He had killed her, there was no way she could still be alive. 


	20. Chpater 20

Author Note: Sorry it took so long to update this. I have officially dug myself in a hole and am trying to get out of it. Someone tell me something about this. Even if it is "Yo! Meg your shit is crap. If I were you I would of killed myself. As a matter of fact I think you should kill yourself now for thinking of this crap and actually trying to write." Tell the truth if it's crap let me know so I can figure out what is crap and work on it or something else. I will attempt to get more up before I go home for the weekend because than nothing gets done.  
  
"Hello Mr. President."   
  
"Hello Jon. How are the wife and kids?"  
  
"They are fine, sir. Thanks for asking."  
  
"I know that's not what you are here for. Shall we go to the conference room?" David asked his long-time friend.  
  
"If you don't mind, Mr. President."  
  
"Jon, how long have you known me?"  
  
"Since we were children, Mr. President."  
  
"Then call me David."  
  
"Sorry David."  
  
They walked to the conference room talking about everything, but what they needed to discuss. When they reached the conference room John took a deep breath and asked, "David, do you know all of the details of what has happened over the past few hours?"  
  
"Yes. CTU Director Tony Almeida has been keeping me informed."   
  
"Good sir, then you know they have both Jack and Darla. And all we know as they are Mandy, and whoever she's working for."  
  
"Yes. Is THIS what you came here to tell me?" Palmer said stressing the this.  
  
"No sir. I actually wanted to ask how much you told Jack about Operation Nightfall."  
  
"He was in it, you know."  
  
"Yes sir, but how much did he know about the operation other than his part?"  
  
"Nothing really. I told him we found out that after the mission already went underway, Drazen was not going to be there. We decided to go along with it because we had known where he would be and that way we could grab him and have everyone think he was dead."  
  
"That's all?"  
  
"That's what happened. Wasn't it? Jon, please don't tell me you sent a team out to their deaths."  
  
"I did not, sir."  
  
"John please tell me we did not have them go out there, knowing they would not succeed because we gave the Drazens the information?"  
  
"We did, sir." John said walking away from the president to face the wall.   
  
"How? Why? It was not necessary. Even if they all died, the possibility of it getting out was slim because it was a secret mission."  
  
"No sir, that's where you are wrong. If they died, the Drazens would have boasted to prove that the U.S. was trying to assassinate them by using their bodies ." Jonathan said looking David in the eyes. Nothing showing in his eyes, it was as if he was ordering breakfast that he ordered every day.  
  
"How did we get the Drazens the information? Let me guess, Darla? She was close to Jack."  
  
"How did you know, sir?"  
  
"I could tell when I spoke with her about Jack's relative safety. She was very worried as if she had cared for him at once."  
  
"Yes sir. She used Jack on my orders. If she did so, I told her I would help her and her family get out of there. All she had to do was keep him occupied while he was there long enough for someone to get the information from his room. We did not get it all, but what we didn't get was leaked through the channels."   
  
"John, you have kept this from me. The entire time you have lied to me. I lied to him. I need to know who carried out this entire plan."  
  
"Why David? It's all over with. There is nothing to be done now. Nothing you can do."  
  
"Yes there is. These people will be brought to justice."  
  
"I was afraid you would say that. Sir, I have to advise you not to go against these people. They will not back down and they will win, sir. They always do."  
  
"Are you threatening me John?"  
  
"No sir. I am just conveying their message."  
  
"Who are they?"  
  
"I don't know completely, but they have Jack and Darla. What they intend on doing, I'm not sure."  
  
"I want to know now. Who are they and where are Jack and Darla at?"  
  
"Sir, I'm not sure about any of it. I am only doing this because they gave me a choice and I have chosen nothing, David. We have been friends a long time and I just wanted to warn you. Do as you please, but I'm getting my family out of here. Good bye."  
  
"John, wait. If you help, we can protect your family."  
  
"No, you can't sir. The people that will be protecting them, some will be, if not all of them, are with these people. I can't risk it. I did what they wanted and now I am going away. Good luck and I'm sorry." Jonathan left the room. David thought about sending someone after him, but he knew the man had to have been scared and probably did not have any more information that would be helpful. David called Tony and shared the some of the information he got from Jonathan. He left out the source, but said it was credible, and he left out most of the details of Operation Nightfall.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
"You're dead. I killed you. I shot you three times. There is no way you could have lived." Jack said confused as to how she could be there.  
  
"You've said that already, Jack. I'm not dead. Here I am in the flesh."  
  
"It's not Nina. You are someone else. Surgery probably like they did for the assassin that was supposed to kill Palmer." Jack said trying to figure out how someone who looked like Nina could be in the hotel room at that moment.  
  
"Nope. No surgery. But you're onto something."  
  
"You are not Nina."  
  
"Jack, do you need me to convince you? The last time I saw you was on the plane. The woman Chloe, I think her name is, stopped the virus, and I knew then you were going to kill me. Tony had a bullet hole in his neck from being shot earlier that day. When he went to go get Richardson, a friend inside helped me make a switch. Needless to say, you never killed me. You killed my very good friend who was going to die anyway. She accidentally slept with Alvers and Amador. And you could tell she was quite worried about it, or at least I acted like I was. It was nice of Amador to help me with paying for the surgery to get her to look like me. You were so fucked up that day and so hell bent on killing me that you never even noticed the slight difference, like my hesitation to kill Kim. You guys would not have had the manpower set up in time to stop me. God was she ever annoying, almost like her old man. But you are a good annoying and she's a stupid annoying. You also missed the idea of me staying in CTU, wasting time, to rip wires out when I could have used the guns I had picked up along the way to get out. Jack, I was quite disappointed in you that day. But then I also have to remember you were not on the top of your game. That withdrawal is a bitch, isn't it?"  
  
"And I'm supposed to believe that somehow you got out of CTU without anyone noticing, not a single camera picking it up? And somehow this other person got in."  
  
"Yeah. I had help, what can I say? CTU is not the best at screening its people or at least keeping them faithful. You offer someone enough money they'll do anything, or if you have the right incentive, they will."  
  
"I don't believe you. I think you're full of crap."  
  
"Well as you said that lovely day when I didn't believe you had stopped the virus, I don't care what you believe." The woman who looked like Nina said. "Get him ready. We need to move in case anyone saw him. They have an APB out on him, Mandy, a woman who resembles you, Amber, and Darla."  
  
Mandy walked outside and got two men to come up to escort Jack down to the car that was waiting. One of the men walked over to Jack and waited for him to stand up. He was ready for Jack who stood up quickly throwing a straight punch at him.  
  
He grabbed Jack's fist in his hand and twisted it. Most people would twist with it to avoid the pain, but Jack allowed the man to twist his arm to the point it almost broke. The man stopped twisting it when he noticed Jack just stood there. This pissed him off that Jack was not doing what he wanted so he took his free hand and smashed Jack hard in the left shoulder. Jack dropped to his knees in pain, gasping and almost in tears from the pain of being hit in his shoulders. The other man walked over and said, "If you don't mind now, Jack. We'd like you to walk to the car. I don't want my friend here to have to fight with you again. Clearly, you will not win and will only get yourself hurt worse." Jack complied, with the help of the man who still had his fist in his hand he got to his feet and followed the men down to a black Lexus. One man slid in the other side and Nina sat in the back next to him so that Jack was sandwiched between the two, his injured shoulder on the side Nina sat on.   
  
"Let me see your shoulder." Nina said reaching behind Jack to loosen the sling in the back.   
  
Jack wanted to wrench away from her, but there was nowhere to go. They were stuck in the back closely together. The guy next to him was at least three times his size and there was no way Jack could even move the guy.   
  
"Unbutton your shirt, or have you gotten shy in your old age?" Nina jested.  
  
Jack slowly unbuttoned his shirt revealing the wife beater underneath. He gently slid his right arm out of the sleeve and then with the help of Nina, he got his injured left arm out of the other sleeve. The bandage was covered with blood again, as Jack had already expected it.   
  
"They really did a number on you earlier today." She said looking at him noticing the two different holes in his shoulder and the bandage on both wrists, his left hand and then the fingers he had taped because they were broken.   
  
Jack swallowed hard trying to ignore the pain and ignore her. He was nauseated again. How could Nina still be alive? This was like a horrible made for TV movie. He always thought it was such a cliché for the killer to come back to life, or in the spy movies the bad guy kills someone in the beginning who was not really killed either because some miracle or a body double. It was a stupid idea that could never happen unless it was on TV, but this wasn't. It was still stupid, but he was almost positive that he had killed Nina, but here she was, and she acted like Nina, she talked like Nina, and she had memories Nina would have. He hated it not only because she was alive, but because it was too much of a cliché.   
  
Amber turned around with Jack's pill bottle. "Here Jack." She said handing him one of the pain pills.   
  
Jack took it from her reluctantly not sure if he wanted to take it. The woman who looked like Nina solved that dilemma though, "Take it." She said looking at him, knowing he was contemplating taking it.   
  
Amber handed her water bottle back to Nina. Jack put the pill in his mouth. He hated pills especially when you put them in your mouth because of the horrid taste that registered in your mouth as soon as the pill touched your tongue. He took a gulp of the water and thanked Amber for it. Handing the water bottle back to her, he waited for the drug to take its effect. It took ten minutes before the drug started to work. All of the pain started to subside. He knew soon he would not be able to think clear, not that it matter because he would not be able to get out of his situation. Nina or the woman who looked like Nina, knew him well and would be able to stop him. With the thought of not escaping, he thought he might know how to figure out if it really was Nina. "If you are Nina. then tell me something only you should know?"  
  
"Do we really have to play this cliché game?"  
  
"Yes, since we already are in the world of major clichés."  
  
"Fine. The day you found out I was a mole, you got a clue earlier in the day. Jamie had a key card that said information was taken from my terminal. You thought about it and believed it so you confronted me in the break room asking me, "How long have you been playing me?" Later I brought to your attention we were in Santa Barbra together the day I supposedly snuck the information out."  
  
Jack thought about it. The only people how knew about his weekend with Nina were him and Nina he thought, and the same was true for the key car incident because Jamie was dead. He was still not positive it was Nina, but then again he did not believe it wasn't her. There was no way he could ever be sure, it was a catch-22.  
  
The car stopped outside of an old mental institution that was out in the country. Someone had bought it and never did anything with it. Nina helped Jack out and escorted him inside. Jack noticed how clean the placed looked for being abandoned. Nina led Jack down after corridor after corridor till finally she reached the padded room area. She opened one of the doors to the room and gently pushed Jack into the room. She locked the door and had one of the men posted outside.   
  
Jack felt tired from the medication so he sat down against the padded wall. He had never been in one of the rooms before, but the wall was not as soft as one would expect. He rested his head against the wall and allowed himself to relax for a minute. He never planned on falling asleep, but his mind was too tired to fight to stay awake. Darla sat next door. She heard the people come and she heard Nina order the man to stay outside and watch him. She assumed the "him" was Jack. She wondered how he was. She had been told he was not in the best shape and she worried for him. She was not sure what they wanted with both of them. She sat in the room worried about how long their future would be. She thought if they escaped this, she would confess to him everything she had done. She felt guilty, but at the same time she had paid for it.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------  
  
Jack sat asleep his head resting against the padded wall, his injured arm resting comfortably on his legs, his mind gone away somewhere safe. Nina looked in through the peep-hole in the door and that is what she saw. She quietly opened the door, she did not want to wake him. He had looked so tired and now peaceful. She use to love to watch him sleep when they were together, and this was almost like that. She entered the room with a few supplies in hand. Quietly, she closed the door behind herself and went to tending to his reopened wounds. She slowly pulled the old bandage off and looked at the two different holes in his shoulder. She concluded one was clearly a bullet hole and the other must have been a nail or something. She took out the gauze grabbed his good shoulder waking him up.  
  
Jack woke up feeling someone touching him. He opened his eyes and say someone who looked like Nina the confusion registered on his face than it went away with the memory of what had happened. Hoarsely he asked, "What do you want now?"  
  
"Nice to see you too, Jack." Nina said conveying no emotion. "I'm trying to rebandage your wound for you, if you don't mind." She said grabbing the gauze and helping him to sit leaning forward.  
  
She took the gauze and wrapped it around his shoulder lightly going under his armpit and back around each time until she covered the wound well enough. She taped the ends off and said, "Looks like you dislocated it, too."  
  
"Yeah." Jack said his mouth dry and throat soar. "What's going on here Nina? Really, why do you need me or Darla?"   
  
"I have my reasons, Jack." Nina said standing up.  
  
Nina nor Jack had noticed that Mandy was standing in the door way. "Sorry to disrupt your little thing here, but the boss is here."  
  
Nina looked down at Jack whose eyes were still glazed from the drugs. She knew he could not take more. She never really wanted him dead, she just didn't want to be dead either. She hoped for her sake and his that he had learned something from when he killed the woman he thought was Nina last year. Every time she saw him, she felt pain and longing. She wanted to leave this life, she hated the life she had to live. When they were together she was ready to give it all up for him, she never told him that or conveyed that because the minute she did she knew the dream would go away. She knew the minute you realized you were close to a dream, it moved farther away or disappeared like the fluffy cloud on a windy day. "I'll be there in a minute. Let me finish here."  
  
"Fine. We're down the hall." Mandy said walking away not sure what was going on.  
  
"What do you want Nina? I'm retired now, I can't be of any help." Jack said just wanting to get away from Nina. When he killed the person he thought was Nina, he believed that chapter in his life was finally closed. He was able to deal with his pain of losing Teri. Killing her did not make him feel any better, but it allowed him to move on with his life. There where no more of those reminders every time he looked at himself in the mirror or walked through CTU.   
  
"Jack you can never retire. People like us the only way we ever get to rest is when we die. Until then, our employers will continually beg more of us until there is no longer anything left to give." Nina said with a sad smile she had not shown too many times before. She left the room closing the door behind herself and locking it again from the outside.  
  
Nina left the room putting her "game face" on again. She was ready to go out and do what she had to do in hopes of being able to leave after this mission. Every mission had the same final goal, make it away alive. Her father once told her You have to think of yourself first because no one will think of you first. She took his words and made a life of it. She always looked out for herself, except those few rear occasions when her conscience got in the way. She still had the conscience, but she was good at blocking it out. She wanted to stop though. She wanted to leave all of it behind and start over again. Try having the normal life with the house with the white picket fence, but deep down she knew it was all a dream that would never happen. She will end up doing it all again she was stuck in the cycle and couldn't get out. If she had to give someone advice, it would be don't ever get into this life because you can not escape. She saw the woman who had been hanging around Mandy for awhile and noticed the concern in her eye for Jack earlier when they had come in the hotel. Nina took note of it and continued on. She would watch the woman to make sure she did not mess with the operation. 


	21. Chapter 21

Author Note: Almost finished only a really cheesy ending left. Don't say I didn't warn you.  
  
Jack sat and thought he felt like he was stuck in an episode of the Twilight Zone. First he found out that he did not kill Nina, but someone who looked like Nina, than her she is being nice to him, she was almost human. Was she right when she said people like them couldn't retire? Someone else had just told him that not too long ago. Who was it? It must have been Darla. Were they right? Was he doomed to continue leading the life he had thought he escaped? He missed the action, but he didn't miss days like today. He was semi-happy in his retirement, he had his guitar, his crappy apartment, and the TV. Not that there was ever anything on TV, but what more could he ask for? He even tried to sit down and write for a while, but every time he wrote something the next morning, he would look at it and know it was crap and erase it off his laptop. He had caught up on all of the books he had always meant to read, such as Catch-22. He rationalized with himself that all of these things were fine for him to do in life, and he denied the fact that he had even missed days like today. His life had become humdrum, for awhile that was what he wanted because he had never had, but it did not turn out that way. It was the dream he had always dreamed since he was able to remember. Like almost every other dream like that when he finally achieved it, he learned that was not what he wanted at all.  
  
He heard the footsteps of people coming. The loud echo of shoes hitting the cement/tile floor echoed through the forsaken place. He waited patiently he knew they would stop here eventually to gloat that they, whoever they happened to be, had caught him again. He was no longer in the mood. He was hurt, tired, hungry, and pissed off. He did not need this anymore.   
  
A few minutes after he heard the feet the door opened and someone pushed Darla into the room. She fell to the floor looking up at Jack who just sat against the wall. She asked him, "Are you okay?"   
  
Jack did not have time to answer because Nina, Mandy, and some other man Jack had never met walked into the room. The man looked at Jack and said, "Nice to meet you finally, Jack. I've been a fan of yours for awhile. I was really sad when I heard you had retired, who was going to keep the evil out of the world. You already know everyone else."   
  
"What do you want?" Jack asked not caring about anything at the moment.  
  
"Ah. You want me to get to a point. That's good. Lets not worry about the little pleasantries. Well being the nice guy I am, I thought you would like to know something about your friend, Darla. She's not what she has made herself out to be. Not in the least. Are you Darla?"  
  
Darla looked at the man she was going to deny it all until she turned blue. She knew the minute she told him Jack would be crushed. It would be Nina all over again. She looked at the man with her jaw locked.   
  
"You are not going to tell him. Do you want me to tell him? I think it would be a lot better coming from you."   
  
Darla gave him a cold stare, but did not say anything. The man pulled out his Glock 17 and walked up to Jack. He pointed the gun at Jack's good shoulder. "Darla, darling, why don't you tell him so he doesn't have to loose his only good arm at the moment?"  
  
"You wouldn't do that." Darla said her eyes having a piercing look to them as if she could kill them with her look.  
  
"Darla, I would. The only reason why he is still alive is because of a wish of my associate. I find it much easier just to either leave him alone or dead."  
  
Jack sat on the floor and said, "We agree on something. As a matter of fact, why don't you just let me leave and I'll forget about all of this and go back to living my life."  
  
"Because you won't, Jack. We both know that. Darla, last chance." The man said giving her the look that said I will do it. He pulled back the slide to chamber a round and started to pull back on the trigger.  
  
"I'll tell him. Just take the damn gun away." Darla said at the last possible second before the trigger was pulled to far back and the bullet would be released spiraling at the untouched shoulder of Jack's.  
  
"Talk." He said pointing the gun away from Jack.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Jack." She started off because she knew when she got done talking he would not listen to her anymore. "I was young and they had my family and were going to kill them. As long as I helped they said they would help me and my family escape Kosovo and go somewhere normal." She paused because she knew all she was doing was making excuses. "They asked me to occupy you for awhile. They wanted you busy for at least an hour so that they could sneak in and check the different equipment you had and other things. They knew at the time you where not there just to keep the peace."  
  
Jack looked at her and he felt guilt and pain all at the same time. It was Nina betraying him all over again only this time he helped in the death of his men. He had chosen to allow his feelings to interfere with the mission and doing that allowed Darla to do what she had to do. In the end, he aided in his own men's deaths because he let his guard down. His face only showed all of the pain and guilt for a second.  
  
The man looked at him and said, "Get up."  
  
Jack stood slowly trying to hide all the turmoil inside. He wanted to hurt Darla as he had wanted to hurt Nina. The man handed him his gun, "It has one bullet in it. Shoot her. If you turn the gun on me or anyone else I'll pull the trigger on my gun and you'll be dead."  
  
Jack grabbed the gun and held it pointed at Darla with his one good arm. He thought about pulling the trigger. He had moments like this before when he killed Victor Drazen, and when he thought he had killed Nina. Each time, he did not get anything from it. He did not feel better after he killed Victor, who he thought had killed his daughter, and he really did not feel better after he killed who he thought was Nina. He actually felt worse, he felt like he had lost purpose. He had to have that someone to fight to keep going, and Nina had turned into that one person. Before Nina, it was his father who was his enemy. When his father died, it was changed from mission to mission. After Kosovo, it was himself, and after Nina, it was himself again. Only this time, it was not enough.   
  
Darla looked up at Jack. She knew she had just hurt him and she waited for him to pull the trigger. She knew she deserved it. She had sold him and his men out for nothing. In the end they did not keep their promise. They made her do more, and in the end, her family was killed and she went through a lot just so that they could capture Victor Drazen.   
  
Jack lowered the gun. He was not going to do it again because in the end, nothing would change. It was just as much his fault as it was hers, and he knew she had paid for it because they did not get her out, and her family was killed. Jack handed the gun back to the guy and said, "No thanks. I won't do it. Kill me if you want, but I won't do it."  
  
Nina almost smiled to herself. Jack had yet again surprised her. He had a way of doing that. Every time she thought she had him figured out she was wrong. It had happened with Kit. She thought Jack would have broken and not have done what he did with Kit, but he did exactly what she assumed he would not be able to do. Jack, like most people, was a paradox and that is where the terrorist lost to him because they always assumed he was simple, as simple as a dichotomy. He was not black and white, but there was a lot of gray.  
  
"Fine." The man said putting the gun in its holster. "Get up and face Jack." The man walked behind and acted as if he were going to cuff her.  
  
Jack saw him raise the gun to Darla's head and Jack went to pull her towards the ground, but he was not quick enough. With tears running down her face, her expression showed the moment she knew the bullet had entered her head and she fell to the ground. Jack flinched away as he felt the bullet graze past him, her blood and brain matter flying onto his face and clothes. Jack fell backwards in his flinch and landed hard against the wall as he slid towards the floor. Darla lay at his feet, blood and gray matter pouring out of her head onto the floor by Jacks feet. Jack looked at her eyes all of the life was gone from them, she was gone forever.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------  
  
Chase ran up to Tony who was sitting in his office. His head were in his hands trying to figure out what in the hell was going on. He was not sure why these people wanted Jack or even Darla for that matter. Operation Nightfall had haunted Jack more than once and you would think they would have figured it out by now. Tony knew that Jack had tried to find all of the information surrounding it throughout his years at CTU.   
  
"Tony." Chase said trying to get his attention as he burst into Tony's office.  
  
"What do you want Chase?" Tony said looking up. The wear and tear of the past few days showing on his face.  
  
"The APB on Jack and the woman worked out. We believe they were at a hotel together and possibly have a location on where they went." Chase said smiling, they finally had a break they had been sitting around for hours with their thumbs up their butts with nothing to do and no leads to follow.  
  
Tony hurriedly got out of his chair and grabbed his coat putting it on over his gun. He and Chase left CTU in a hurry. Tony called Michelle from the car informing her where they were going and to call him if anything else came in.   
  
Tony drove expeditiously towards the hotel when his cell phone rang. "Almeida?"  
  
"Tony we have another APB on them the old mental hospital. I have a team in route should only be about twenty minutes before they get there. You should be there in ten. Please wait for them, Tony." Michelle pleaded knowing he would most likely go in guns a blazing.  
  
"Good-bye Michelle, we're headed off to the hospital. Get whatever information you can on the people who own it now." Tony ordered when before he hung up his phone.  
  
"What was that?" Chase asked in the passenger seat.  
  
"We have a new APB on him. The old mental hospital, they might actually still be there." Tony said with slight excitement in his voice. The adrenaline was already pumping through his veins as he new he had a chance to get Jack free for once. He felt guilty the year of the nuclear bomb after he found out what happened to Jack. He never even thought about sending a team or someone out to get him or check on them even after it took longer than expected for them to reach CTU.   
  
"Let's go." Chase said pulling out both of his guns to make sure he had them both loaded and ready to go.   
  
When they reached the abandoned hospital, Tony noticed the van from earlier. There were only two there and one he knew for sure was the one he saw earlier. He drove past the hospital into a wooded area where he parked the car. He and Chase got out and watched the hospital for any movement on the inside or outside. Tony noticed two men smoking outside the back entrance. He looked at his watch, and the teams were still ten minutes off. He thought, What could go wrong in ten minutes? A lot.   
  
Chase looked at Tony and said, "I'm going in with or without you. We don't know what is going on in there or if he is really in there, but I cannot sit here much longer."   
  
"Yeah, I know." Tony said noticing a woman that look like Nina leaving the place. "Let's go."  
  
The two ran quietly towards the hospital trying to keep out of sight and at the same time get close enough to the hospital to go in. They decided entering through the front would be the best option since there were clearly people in the back. Quietly, Tony opened the front door holding his breath hoping that it did not set an alarm off. Once inside, he let the breath go and went on to the next door. Anxiety was building up in him as he was anxious to get in and out quickly with Jack hopefully in tow on the way out. Slowly they walked down the empty dirty hallway towards the voices they heard not to far off. Tony heard footsteps coming. He and Chase rushed into one of the rooms closing the door behind them after they entered. Tony listened by placing his ear next to the door as two men struggled carrying something past the door. When he was sure they were clear, Tony waited another minute and opened the door. The first thing he noticed was the blood trail on the floor.   
  
Chase looked at Tony and both had the same look of worry on their face. They continued quietly down the hallway following the blood trail. If Jack was dead, then the trail would lead them to the room of the people who killed him and they could kill them, or arrest them. The arresting was a last option in both men's minds.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Michelle sat at her desk biting her nails. She hated when Tony went out in the field she knew what could happen out there. Out there, it would be seemingly funny for her to think of a world outside of CTU building being the field. She and her colleagues unlike most Americans knew the danger of the world and lived with it every day. She knew it took a special person to work for CTU. Most normal people would have left the United States by now to live in Switzerland, the country no one would ever attack because everyone's money is there and they are neutral. She fought the urge to call Tony's cell phone to see if he were waiting for the team. She was again watching a team going in to save someone who Tony was already going in after.   
  
Kim walked up to her, "What's up, Michelle?" Kim said still worried about her father and having nothing to do. She and Adam had chased down ever possible lead and now were trying to think of more things to figure out.  
  
Glen walked by and stopped to ask Kim how she felt.   
  
Michelle not noticing Glen in the back ground answered, "We got an APB on your father did you not know that?"  
  
"No, Adam and I have been running around chasing everything else. Do we think it is really him?"  
  
"Yeah. Tony and Chase are there now. A team is on its way too."  
  
Glen walked past Kim and Michelle on towards the exit of the building. When he got outside and to his car he took out his phone and called the people. "You have to get out of there now. They have a team coming. Two agents are already there."  
  
"What? Are you sure?" The deep voice asked on the other line.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------  
  
Chase and Tony reached the end of the blood trail it led into a what looked like a padded cell. Tony watched the hallway while Chase peeped into the small window. Chase opened the door slowly as to make sure he made no noise. He was not sure if anyone was there. He walked up to Jack who sat on the floor with his head leaning back against the wall. Quietly Chase said, "Jack."  
  
Jack's eyes opened and he looked up at Chase. Blood splattered on his face and shirt, and some of his own trickling down his neck onto his no longer clean shirt from the nick of the bullet that exited Darla's head. Jack's eyes lit up, he almost had given up on anyone coming. He noticed the worry on Chase's face and he said, "It's not all mine. I'm fine. They killed Darla." Jack looked at the ground hurt at the thought of her being gone. He had every reason to hate her and yet he still could not hate her. He still remembered the girl he saved from the soldiers and how her eyes and face would light up when she spoke of her cause.  
  
"I'm sorry." Chase said noticing the look and Jack face, "Let's get out of here."  
  
"Good idea." Jack said standing up and following Chase out of the room. The three walked down the hallway quietly. Chase gave Jack a back up gun in case he needed to use it. When they were close to the room Chase and Tony had hid in earlier a woman's voice said, "Stop right there or I'll shoot."  
  
Jack spun around to see who it was and noticed Amber and Nina behind them. Tony had noticed Nina and the shock registered on his face as it had on Chase's.  
  
Nina ordered, "Put the guns down now."  
  
Jack held his gun steadily pointed at her.   
  
"Jack put the gun down. Are you going to kill me again?  
  
Tony lowered his Beretta to the ground knowing the team would be there in a few minutes so it would not matter if they were all taken into custody. Tony touched Jack's good shoulder and said, "Come on, Jack put the gun down."  
  
Chase lowered his Beretta and looked at Nina in amazement. Jack lowered his P228 handgun and had it at his side.  
  
"Drop the gun on the floor Jack." Nina ordered with her gun trained on Jack. He in the end was her only real threat. She knew she could take Chase because she had before. Tony and Chase both were not capable of seeing through her bullshit like Jack so she could easily manipulate the two. Jack could see through her and got harder to manipulate after every time he lost to her.   
  
Jack let the gun fall from his hand and glared at Nina. He really wished now he had killed her he thought, but he knew it was not the truth. He hated Nina and detested her, but at the same time he knew she was the one person who ever figured him out. She was the only person he had ever even allowed a piece of himself out in the open. Teri knew the side of Jack she wanted to know and so did everyone else. Nina was the only person who knew the real Jack and how he felt and thought.  
  
"Let's go." Nina said walking forward with Amber next to her. The guys listened to her and walked forward. They reached the front entrance and Nina ordered them to stop. The three turned around to look at her. "When you guys exit here, take off for the woods. I'm sure that is how you came in. I'm going to distract some of the people by taking one of the vans out of here. I would appreciate it if you didn't follow me. After all, I am helping you guys." Nina said noticing the look of shock on everyone's face.  
  
Amber pointed her gun at Nina and asked, "What the fuck are you talking about? They are going to be pissed once they find out."  
  
"Amber, I've been in this business longer than you and have seen more than you could ever dream of. This is my advice to you, leave with them, and hope that someone steps up for you and go live your life. Let go of whatever is bothering you." Nina said looking the woman in the eyes. Nina turned her gaze to Jack who recovered from the shock of Nina helping them escape, "Jack, will you help her out? She's too damn young to have to live a life like we have."  
  
"Yeah." Jack said swallowing hard. "She did help me out."   
  
"See? Now go with them." Nina said walking past Jack and the others.   
  
They exited the building quickly running across the open area to the woods where Tony's car was parked. They all piled in and waited for Nina to take off. "What's going on?" Tony asked.  
  
"Tony, do me a favor. Forget about Amber here. She helped out, that is all. She was forced to help them out and never really knew what she was in." Jack said looking Tony in the eyes trying to convey that Jack did not want anything to happen to Amber.   
  
"Jack, I'm not sure about that." Tony answered wondering why Jack was trying to help her.   
  
"Tony, please. I cannot explain it right now, but please just do this favor for me." Jack pleading.  
  
Ever since Tony knew Jack the man had asked for very few favors and he never pleaded for Tony to help him before. Tony was not sure what the woman meant to Jack, but he decided to follow through with Jack. "Fine Jack, but please find one day when you can explain it to me."  
  
"I will. I promise." Jack said feeling as if he had just righted a few of the wrongs he had done in his life.  
  
Amber was relieved. She wanted to get out of the situation ever since she signed up for it and only continued in fear of being killed. She had a way out and possibly a clean way out she never figured she'd have.   
  
Nina sped off down the road distracting the men who were no longer smoking, but just talking. When she was out of sight, the team landed and went in on their attack of the structure. They ended the battle in ten minutes taking some men into custody and others were off to the morgue. The main guy was no where to be found. Some of the men who were only injured stated that he had taken off a few minutes before the team landed out the back via the other van.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
When Tony and the others got back to CTU, Ryan Chappelle took on the task of interfering again in the business of CTU. Chappelle himself debriefed Jack and tried to probe on more information about Amber. Chappelle was sure Jack was hiding something about the woman, and tried to get the information, but Jack would not give it up.  
  
Finally Chappelle gave in and said, "I hope she is worth protecting."   
  
Jack looked up at him and his eyes told him that Jack knew what he was doing and there was no way Chappelle would ever get the full story.   
  
Tony walked into the integration room Chappelle had been debriefing Jack in and said, "You'll never believe this."  
  
"What now?" Chappelle said tired and upset that he could not get everything out of Jack.  
  
"We just got a package. It's a virus that the people must have been trying to buy. The person who brought it claimed he was paid to deliver it and tell Jack Bauer that this was all of it, and good luck." Tony said looking at Jack as if to find out who Jack thought it was. Tony had his own theory that it was the woman who looked like Nina.  
  
Jack smiled and said, "She never stops throwing me off."   
  
"I have one last question Jack before you leave. Why did they need you? I understand the idea of getting back at you for whatever Kate Warner and her family thought you had done, but why the other group?" Chappelle asked, wondering himself what the answer was.  
  
"I'm not sure why they wanted me. At first, I thought it was another blowback from Operation Nightfall, but in the end, they gave me more information on it. I don't know why. Maybe the woman who I believe was Nina needed to let me know she was not dead and could still fuck with me. I seriously do not know."   
  
"Fine. The President wanted to speak to you when you got back. I'll have Chloe bring in a phone for you." Chappelle said before he left the room.   
  
Jack called the President, and began the conversation with, "I'm sorry about earlier. It was a little extreme for me to go too. If you want to press charges, I understand sir."  
  
"Jack, I owe you the apology. I had not right to keep you here or make others believe you were dead without your permission. At the time, it made sense. I called to tell you that I did know about the other team, but I did not or would ever order the deaths of innocent American soldiers. I do not know how they got the information or who was behind it. I did get a warning from my CIA friend and they have gotten to him. I'm going to let things cool off a little and then when you feel like it, I want you to look into the matter."  
  
Jack smiled at the thought that someone was finally going to let him look into the horrible mission and he said, "Sir, I doubt I should be the one to do it. I am very biased of the information."  
  
"I know that Jack, but I want you to do it. You can choose whoever you want to help you. And I will make sure that you have everything you need. The investigation would be top-secret of course."  
  
"Yes sir. I'll call you when I've recovered. At the moment, I just want to go off and get away from everything sir."  
  
"I don't blame you. Thank you Jack. Good-bye."  
  
Jack hung the phone up and made another call.   
  
A woman's voice answered, "Hello?"  
  
"Carol it's Jack. Do you still have the cabin in the mountains dad left us?"  
  
"Yes, of course Jack. Why?"  
  
"Can I use it for awhile?"  
  
"Yeah, but you have to stop up and see me. I have not seen you in so long, nor have you called me."  
  
"I will be up in a few days then." Jack answered. Jack said goodbye and left to look for Kim. He found her standing with Chase.  
  
"Excuse me. May I talk to her privately for a moment?" Jack asked Chase.  
  
Chase was a little leery about leaving Kim. He was afraid that Jack would get on her about their relationship again. Kim looked at him and said, "I'll meet you downstairs honey."  
  
Jack looked at his daughter he was not sure where to begin. "Are you okay?" He asked noticing the tired look and the bandages.   
  
"I'm fine. How are you?"  
  
"I'm good. I'm going to go up to Aunt Carols cabin for a few months. If you need me, call my cell phone."  
  
Kim hugged her father and kissed him on the cheek. Jack turned to walk away and turned back around, "Kim."  
  
"Yes dad?"  
  
"I'm sorry about everything. Chase is a good guy for you." Jack turned around and walked away leaving Kim stunned by his words. Jack found Tony and got his cell phone and other things from earlier and left CTU. When he was in the garage he found Chase waiting for Kim to join him. Jack walked over to him and said, "Treat her good or I'll kill you."   
  
"What?" Chase said stunned by Jack.  
  
"Don't hurt her."  
  
"You approve?"  
  
"No. I'm just giving you advice." Jack said smiling as he turned from the young agent. He was not completely happy with Kim's choice in men, but Jack understood all too well you cannot control the people you love, and she has had worse. As an after thought he thought, So have I. 


	22. THE HAPPY CHEESEST CHEESE BALL ENDING

WARNING: Yet again I finish a story and I must make amends with my conscience snake. THIS LAST PART IS the CHEESEST CHEESE BALL that ever existed.  
  
A Few Months Later  
  
Jack had been at the cabin in the mountain for what seemed like only a few weeks, but it had actually been a few months. He was enjoying the peacefulness of the mountains. His nearest neighbor was a mile or so away and there were no phones or TV for that matter. Kim and his sister came to visit a few times to make sure he was still alive. He kept his cell phone off most of the time only turning it on once a day to check his voice mail and call whoever called. Most nights, it was just Kim, and a few times Tony, Michelle, or Chase. Jack would call them back within a week of receiving the call. He was in no real hurry to move things along. This was the first time in awhile he felt at peace with himself. Amber called once to thank him and told him she would still be next door, and not to worry. All grudges were forgotten.   
  
Jack was healed for the most part. His shoulder still gave him pains from time to time, but the holes where mended and so was his psyche. He no longer had the periods of depression or anxiety he could not explain. Everything was at his pace and he had all the time in the world.   
  
He returned from his daily walk down the road to the mail box and around the woods for about an hour. He walked into the house putting a letter from Kim on the table and went to take a shower. After his shower, he walked down in just his boxer shorts and a wife beater. He was tired from waking up to early that morning so he laid down on the couch and fell asleep.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------  
  
She had watched him for months. She started off first living in her car down the road from his house and then later she rented the house down the road from him. She felt like she had to know he was fine. She knew that the people were still out there and pissed that he had won again. She watched him slowly heal. Many nights, she would walk up to his house and stand outside the door thinking about knocking, but never getting enough courage to do so.   
  
She had sat not too far from the house in the woods listening to him play his guitar, something she never knew about him. She enjoyed hearing the music and his voice soothed her. She was his guardian angel, only she had brought him pain as well as safety many of times. She had told herself as she walked to the house that she would go in this time and see him, let him know she was around. What could he do, kill her again? She had to get everything off her chest. In order to start a new life you have to atone for everything and everyone you hurt in the past, and that was what she was going to do. She reached the door. She noticed through the window he was asleep on the couch. She tried the handle and it was unlocked. Surprising her that he had not locked it, but again this was the country and he believed he had been alone. She expected him to sit up fully alert when she walked in as he had so many times before when they were together. She left the room and came back. He always was awake and noticed it. She knew him as a light sleeper and that seemed to have changed because she was inside the house and contemplating whether or not she would wake him up.   
  
His shirt had slipped up in his sleep and she could see all of the scars on his midsection. She noticed new ones from the last time they had been together in her apartment. She knew some of their origins and others she could only guess. How should she play this out? she wondered. Should she walk up and be the old Nina, the coldhearted Nina, should she be the partner Nina he knew, or the new Nina? Who was the new Nina anyway? She was not sure who she was. She wanted out of the life she had lived since she made that epic choice many years ago. Funny how as a teenager everything seemed so simple and she made the life altering choice without thinking about it. She walked up and was standing over him looking down at him sleeping. He looked so good asleep. She missed him and wanted him again.  
  
Jack felt someone's eyes on him as he was in a shallow state of sleep. He thought he heard the door opened, but he did not feel like sitting up to find no one there, but now he felt eyes on him. It was like the sixth sense, you could just tell when someone was staring at you. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times before everything came into focus. His mouth dropped in shock at the sight of her. He jumped up from the couch getting ready to fight whoever she brought with her. She must have changed her mind or was going to use him to save herself. He looked around the room to see it was just them.  
  
"Jack, it's just us. I'm not here to fight with you." Nina said knowing he was expecting something different.  
  
"What the hell Nina?" Jack said confused as to why she was here.  
  
"I wanted to talk to you. I need to talk to you." Nina said looking in his eyes.  
  
As she looked in his eyes he noticed something different about her he was not sure what it was, but she was not the same Nina from years ago. "What is it?"  
  
"Why don't you go get dressed, and I'll get something to drink?" Nina said looking down at Jack's boxer shorts that had smiley faces on them. "Nice boxers." Nina said reverting back to the old Nina.  
  
Jack looked down and felt embarrassed by his boxers, "Kim bought them as a gag gift." Jack answered trying to keep some of his dignity. He left the room to change and to grab the gun he kept read incase anything went down.  
  
He returned back down stairs in a black satin shirt that hid the gun and black jeans. Nina had two beers sitting on the table and she sat on the chair waiting for him.   
  
Jack sat on the couch and asked, "So why the visit?"  
  
"I came to say good-bye. I'm leaving the life and I wanted to make sure that you understood I was leaving for good."  
  
"Fine, why do I care?" Jack said with bitterness he had not felt in a while.   
  
"You aren't going to make this easy are you?" Nina said catching his eye. Her eyes pleading with him to be kind. "I always wanted to apologize for everything. I know I caused you a lot of pain by killing your wife, betraying you, and all of the things I did. It was my job and I am sorry I did it. I regret killing Teri. I never wanted to."  
  
"Then why did you?" Jack said anger seething through him. Maybe he was not healed over as he thought.  
  
"No matter what excuse I give you, it would not be good enough. But in the end I was like you. I didn't choose this life, it chose me. It is no excuse, but my childhood was far from good or normal. My father was an asshole alcoholic who cheated and beat my mom. My mom left me with him and then he died a few years later. I lived with my aunt and uncle but they could never get through to me. I ran with the wrong crowd and got into my life. When I met you at CTU, I was ready to give it all up, but they would not let me. I stayed on and then they asked me to try to get to you. I could not at first because you and Teri were together. When you left for your mission, I was so worried about you, and when you returned, I knew what you went through and I wanted to be there for you. After you and Teri broke up. I had a chance to. I never meant to use you. I really wanted to be with you, but I couldn't escape the life. You know what it is like to be stuck in a life and not able to escape it. I'm not sure if I can even escape now. I just wanted to apologize for it all." Nina held back tears, she was not one to cry, but she was so tired of this life. After she had supposedly died, it gave her time to reexamine her life and everyone she had ever loved she hurt, and it hurt her. She changed and she needed him to see that because she still loved him. She had never told anyone about the full details of her childhood, but him now. Kit only heard part of her past and understood why she took the current path, but he's dead now.  
  
Jack looked to the floor. He was angry, but at the same time all the doubts and pains came back. He looked up and saw the slight change in Nina's face that showed the pain and tears she was holding back. "I'm not sure if I can forgive you Nina. You took two people that I loved and trusted from me."  
  
Nina heard what he said and started to think two. She only killed Teri. Other than that, she had not taken anyone else away. Then it dawned on her. She felt stupid. He meant her also. "I am so sorry Jack. I never meant to hurt you." The tears she fought hard to keep back all those years came down her face. She hated herself at the moment and believed she did not deserve the chance to start over.   
  
There was a knock on the door that pulled the two out of their moment. Jack's heart raced as he feared that this was all a ploy and he just put himself out there, or even worse that Kim came to visit. Jack got up and looked out the door. He saw his sister Carol. He sighed with relief. Carol had never seen Nina before so she wouldn't know who she was. He opened the door and smiled at her, "You didn't have to knock. This is your place after all."   
  
"No, it's your place. Dad left it to you. You were just too pig- headed to take it at the time." Carol said brushing past her younger brother, bags of groceries and food in hand. When she saw the woman sitting on the couch, she blushed and asked, "Did I interrupt something?"  
  
"No." Jack said trying to think of a good excuse for Nina.  
  
"I'm your neighbor. I live down the road."  
  
"Oh. How long have you lived down there?"  
  
"I've been renting it for the past few months. I'm Nicky." Nina said smiling at Jack's sister.  
  
"I'm Carol, Jack's older sister. It's nice to meet you. Will you please join us for dinner? I brought up some food. I figured if I never fed him he would eat crappy meals all the time."   
  
Nina almost said, I know what you mean. But knowing what she meant would mean she had prior knowledge of Jack. Nina looked at Jack for an answer and he did not give her one. "I don't want to be a hassle." Nina answered.  
  
"No you wouldn't be. Would she, Jack?" Carol said looking at her little brother.  
  
Jack answered immediately, "No, not at all." He didn't know if she was going to be a bother or not, but saying yes would have pulled more attention to the situation. And truthfully, he did not want her to leave yet. He wanted her around. He began to wonder just how much she had been around. She said she had rented the house for a few months he wondered if that was the truth. "What are we having anyway?" Jack said taking the bags of groceries away from her.  
  
"Lasagna. How's the shoulder?"  
  
"Fine. Still have some minor pains, but its better."   
  
They had dinner together. Carol was good at one thing knowing when not to pry for information from people, and she had sensed it when she walked into the cabin that there was more to the story and it was none of her business. In time she would find out or she wouldn't. Either way, it didn't matter. Her brother looked better and seemed better. She left the two who were doing the dishes and drinking wine together. "Jack I'll see you in a few weeks. Tony called me because you never call him back he wants to know if you are going to go back to work for CTU? Chappelle wants you, too."   
  
"Thanks Carol. I'll make sure to call them." Jack said as his sister left. He breathed a little after she left. He had fun and enjoyed both women's company at dinner, but the entire time, he was afraid Carol would recognize who she was really eating with.   
  
"That was a little awkward." Nina said after she left smiling. It was the first time she had met anyone in Jack's family other than Kim and Teri.  
  
"It was." Jack said collapsing into the couch.  
  
"I probably should have made some excuse not to be here. You probably didn't want me here."  
  
Not thinking about it, he answered, "No, it was nice."   
  
There was the awkward silence between them. Nina asked to break the awkward silence, "So your father left you this place?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You never told me about him. Why were you too pig-headed?" Nina asked prying into his past.  
  
Jack felt uncomfortable talking about his past and squirmed under the questions, "He wasn't the best guy in the world, and I didn't want anything he gave me at the time."  
  
"He was the reason why you joined the Army out of high school?"  
  
"Yeah. I wanted to get away from him." Jack answered walking over to the CD player. He pushed play and let the CD play quietly in the background.  
  
I wanted you to know that I loved the way you laugh  
  
I want to hold you high and still your pain away  
  
I keep your photograph, and I know it severs me well  
  
I want to hold you high and still your pain  
  
Cuz I'm broken, when I'm lonesome  
  
And I don't feel right when you're gone away  
  
You're gone away  
  
You don't feel here anymore  
  
"Wait a second. This isn't Jack Bauer music. Maybe Kim, but not Jack Bauer music." Nina had noticed the slight addition to his musical choice.  
  
"I know. it's actually not that bad. Kim made me the CD for something. She tried and at first I didn't want to hurt her by not listening to it and then I started to like it."  
  
The worse is over now  
  
And we can breath again  
  
I want hold you high and still my pain away  
  
There's so much left to learn  
  
And no one left to fight  
  
I want to hold you high and still your pain  
  
Cuz I'm broken And I'm open  
  
And I don't' feel like I'm strong enough  
  
Cuz I'm broken, when I'm lonesome  
  
And I don't feel right when your gone away  
  
"Not too bad. I heard you playing it." Nina let the fact slip out before she said it.  
  
"So you were watching me before?" Jack asked his eyebrows arching in interest.  
  
"Yeah. I wanted to make sure you were okay. One thing about starting a new life is you have to atone for all the wrong you did in your previous life, and I wanted to do so. That is why I'm here. I needed to let you know I was truly sorry and am truly sorry for all the pain I ever caused you."  
  
Cuz I'm broken I'm open  
  
I don't feel like I'm strong open  
  
Cuz I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
  
And I don't' fell right when your gone away  
  
Cuz I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
  
And I don't feel right when your gone away  
  
You've gone away  
  
You don't feel me here anymore  
  
"I understand." Jack said walking up to her. Smelling lavender shampoo in her hair, he wanted her at the moment, but his mind told him it was not right. This was the woman who killed your wife, and hurt you.   
  
Stepping back for a moment Nina asked, "How did it feel when you killed the woman who looked like me last year?"  
  
The question was almost sobering. Jack had never told anyone what it made him feel. They all assumed he felt better, but he didn't. He felt worse. He lost another person he loved again. "It didn't help. I was still the same person. Teri was dead and so was the only other person I had ever loved. Fucked up, isn't it? How I can care for the woman who killed my wife?" Jack turned around trying to hide the mixture of feeling running through him.  
  
"We are some fucked up people Jack. That's what makes us what we are. God knows we both have some serious problems. Are you going to work for CTU again?"  
  
Jack thought about it, "I'm not sure. I like the job, but at the same time, I hate it."  
  
"You should. You are too young to retire and the world needs people like you to keep it safe from people like me." Nina walked up to him, only inches away from him. She looked him in the eyes and said, "Jack you are a good man. Even with what you have done in your life, you are a great man. You have made this a better world, and have sacrificed so much at the same time." Nina kissed him. She was not sure why she had, but it felt right at the moment. To her surprise, he returned the kiss and unlike in Mexico it had feeling behind it.  
  
When Nina finally pulled away Jack asked in a hushed voice, "So now are we going to act as if nothing ever happened? As if we have no past?"  
  
"It would be nice, wouldn't it? Why can't we? Don't we deserve one night with a normal life, forgetting about the past, and future and just live now? Live for one night of joy and happiness we both have never really had?" how can you see into my eyes like open doors  
  
leading you down into my core  
  
where i've become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
  
until you find it there and lead it back home wake me up inside  
  
wake me up inside  
  
call my name and save me from the dark  
  
bid my blood to run  
  
before i come undone  
  
save me from the nothing i've become  
  
now that i know what i'm without  
  
you can't just leave me  
  
breathe into me and make me real  
  
bring me to life  
  
wake me up inside  
  
wake me up inside  
  
call my name and save me from the dark  
  
bid my blood to run  
  
before i come undone  
  
save me from the nothing i've become  
  
bring me to life  
  
frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life  
  
among the dead  
  
all this time i can't believe i couldn't see  
  
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me  
  
i've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
  
got to open my eyes to everything  
  
without a thought without a voice without a soul  
  
don't let me die here  
  
there must be something more  
  
bring me to life  
  
(FOR MY CONSCIENCE Snake) The Ninja smiled giving them two thumbs up before he threw the smoke bomb down and disappeared into thin air. 


	23. Non cheesy actual ending Not edited by ...

Sorry for the cheesier ending. Something that I thought was a good idea at the time, and was a good thing and all just impossible it's ever happen. What can I say I'm a hopeless romantic at heart, and a COLD HARD bitch on the outside. I liked the idea of Jack and Nina having this unexplainable connection. In the end it made since that the only way they could escape the cycle of life was to look to each other. It was the meeting of Yin and Yang per say. In the end it was cheesier than hell and I knew it by the title of the chapter. But this is the real ending and the other we can think of as a cheesy dream. ---------------------------------------------------  
  
After a few months at the cabin Jack felt ready to face the world again. Both the physical and mental wounds were healed. He was ready to go out in the world, less guilt ridden. He knew what he had to do and he was going to do it to the best of his ability. He was finally going to find answer for all of the families who loved ones had an empty casket in the ground because he failed them and left the behind. Driving back towards his house he thought of this. When he got home he was pleasantly surprised to find the stack of mail waiting for him on the counter. Kim and Chase had been nice enough to sort it out for him. Kim had paid his bills for him via the internet using his checking account while he was gone.  
  
He looked at his answering machine and it had enough phone calls on it to have filled the entire tape. He would listen to them later he thought. Right know he wanted to call Kim and let her know he was town, and see if she wanted to get dinner with him tonight. He decided that he would call the President tonight and let him know he was ready to recruit a team to look into Operation Nightfall, and the possible leaks and other problems in the government.  
  
Jack called Kim using his home phone. She did not answer at her home phone so he tried her cell phone. Finally he got an answer on the fourth ring.  
  
"Bauer?"  
  
"Kim."  
  
"Dad. Where are you at?"  
  
"I'm home. I wanted to see if you wanted to grab dinner with me tonight."  
  
"Yes. I've missed you and there is so much we need to catch up on. And I have some news for you."  
  
"What?" Jack said worried at first.  
  
"I'll tell you tonight. Hold on." Kim looked at Tony who stood beside her.  
  
Tony asked, "Is that Jack?"  
  
"Yeah. Want to talk to him?" Kim talked into the phone, "Dad Tony wants to talk with you." Before she handed Tony the phone she asked, "Why don't you and Michelle join us tonight for supper? I could cook or Chase could, his cooking being the more edible of the two of us. It'll be like a house warming?"  
  
Tony answered, "Ask Michelle. I'm sure she'll be happy to help out." Tony spoke into the phone, "Hey Jack. Why didn't you return all of my calls?"  
  
"Sorry. Just wanted to be out of it for awhile."  
  
"Understandable. President Palmer been looking for you. The man almost went up the damn mountain to find you. You might want to call him."  
  
"I will." Jack said. "I got to go Tony. Need to unpack and all."  
  
"I guess I'll see you tonight than."  
  
"Sure." Jack said hanging up the phone. For the first time in awhile he felt alone. Tony had Michelle and Kim had Chase. No one needed him anymore. With that thought there was a knock on the door. Jack walked over to the door and opened it.  
  
"Hey Jack. Welcome back. I thought that was you I heard." Amber said standing outside smiling. "No hard feelings right? I'd hate to think I had you after me." Amber still smiling worried he was angry with her now for all she had done.  
  
"No not at all. Come in. You'll have to excuse me I'm still trying to readjust to people."  
  
"Yeah you've been up in those mountains alone. Must have been nice."  
  
"Yeah. It was at first I was loosing my mind, but I settled in after awhile."  
  
"I am sorry about before. I though you had betrayed them."  
  
"No need. I understand I would have done the same thing. In the end it doesn't matter the past is in past let it sleep there." Jack thought about it and wished he would have taken his own advice. With that thought his phone rang. He looked up at Amber and said, "Hold on please. I better answer that."  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Jack. President Palmer."  
  
"Hell Sir."  
  
"How are you? I hope you healed well?"  
  
"Yes sir. I was just going to call you. I'll be ready to recruit people starting tomorrow if you are still willing to allow me to work on the operation."  
  
"Of course. That was what I was calling about. Why don't you fly out to D.C. Monday and you can get to work there."  
  
"Yes sir." Jack thought for a moment and said, "I think I already have a member of my team. She'll have to have some basic training, but I think she will be a good asset."  
  
"You have total control over the team."  
  
"Thank you sir."  
  
The phone line went dead. Jack hung up and asked Amber, "You in for a mission?"  
  
"Are you joking?"  
  
"I need someone I can trust and someone who will be just as dedicated as I am. You are that person. If you want the job we fly out Monday?"  
  
"Yeah. Of course."  
  
"Good. You'll have to go through some basic training just for protocol but it'll be easy."  
  
"What are you up to tonight? You want to get the coffee or dinner I promised you so long ago?"  
  
"I'm actually going to dinner with Kim and Chase and the others." Jack said looking down at his feet not sure why.  
  
"Oh. That's cool another time." Amber said disappointed.  
  
"How about you accompany me? I need someone they are all couples there and I'd hate to be like the fifth wheel."  
  
"Are you sure?" Amber said raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah. Seven ok?"  
  
"Sure. I better go get ready." Amber said happy almost feeling like a giggly little girl. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------  
  
Jack was nervous standing outside the house that Kim had given him directions too. Amber could feel his nervousness, and in turn made her just as nervous. She thought what if they remembered what she had done? Would they treat her horrible?  
  
Chase answered the door with a smile, "Hey Jack."  
  
"Hi Chase. This is Amber." Jack said pointing to Amer.  
  
"Come on in. Michelle is trying to teach Kim to cook in the kitchen. I think maybe I should call the fire department and get them here early." Chase said jokingly.  
  
Jack laughed and he walked in with Amber behind him. Jack introduced everyone to Amber and they all welcomed her. She went to the kitchen instead of watching the game with guys.  
  
She felt out of her element in the kitchen. She did not know any of the people and her past with Jack made it even more uneasy.  
  
Kim smiled at her and asked, "Are you going out with my father?" Kim hoped not she was not that much older than Kim herself.  
  
"No. We are just friends." Amber said looking down at her feet, much as Jack did when he was embarrassed or just at a loss for something.  
  
Kim noticed the likeness and continued to smile. "How about you help us? Michelle is trying to teach me, but I think it's a lost cause."  
  
"I'm with you. I can't cook a frozen pizza." Amber answered back smiling.  
  
The rest of the night went off without a problem. Michelle saved the day and made sure everything tasted good and was edible. At the end of dinner Chase excused himself and asked Jack to join him. He waked Jack down the hallway of his new house. He stopped at the last bedroom that had been turned into a study of a sort.  
  
Jack was confused as to what was going on. Once inside Chase closed the door and leaned against his desk. "Jack. I needed to ask you something. I've been waiting for you to get back to ask you in person."  
  
Jack was confused. He was not sure what Chase was going to ask him. Or at least he did not want to think of what Chase was going to ask him.  
  
"Jack with your permission I'd like to ask Kim to marry me. We've been seeing each other for over a year, and I love her will all my heart. She is everything to me. I know you don't like the fact that I'm in field ops, but it's my life and she's my life too. I can't live without her."  
  
Jack felt like he was twenty years younger sitting in Teri's fathers study asking him and telling him the same thing. Jack thought about giving Chase the same answer that Teri's father had given him, but he knew in the end it wouldn't matter. "Can I talk to Kim?" Jack asked.  
  
Chase heart sank. He was almost certain Jack was going to say no, screaming at his daughter beforehand. "I'll go get her." Chase said with his head hung in defeat.  
  
Kim came down the hallway a few minutes later. Jack was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He was angry, but at the same time he was happy.  
  
Kim knew what Chase had asked Jack, and she thought she knew her fathers answer. She walked into the room starting the battle she would not quit till she won. "I love him dad. He is a really nice guy, and I love him with all my heart. No matter what your answer is I'm marrying him. He wanted to ask you first though."  
  
Jack smiled at his daughter. She was his daughter she had his temper and mind set. "Do you really love him?"  
  
"Yes." She said locking her eyes with his.  
  
"Are you willing to live with the fact that he will be just like I was. Gone for weeks at time not able to tell you where or what happened?"  
  
"Yes." Maintaining eye contact.  
  
Unknown to Jack Chase stood outside. He had excused himself and Kim from the dinner party. Everyone knew what was going on besides Jack and Amber.  
  
"Did I ever tell you about how I got hitched to your mom?" Jack asked still thinking of the old days. His eyes now distant as if he were caught in mid memory.  
  
"No." Kim answered trying to read her father for any site of the pain that use to be so obvious whenever her mother was mentioned.  
  
"I asked her father and he said no. I don't blame him. I was a cocky Delta Force Officer and I had nothing to offer your mother because of my occupation. She married me anyways eve after he did not want it. It killed her when he turned his back on her for the first few years we were married. He even refused to walk her down the aisle. But she did it anyways because she loved me. Even after I objected and told her we could wait till he came around. You know what she said to me." He paused remember the happy memory, "She said, 'Jack Bauer. I love you and no one can tell us we cannot be together. As long as we love each other nothing else matters. All we have in life is the one person we know we should be with.' We got married a few weeks later. I don't want you to have to deal with that. So you have my blessing. You can't help who you fall in love with, nor can you help what happens in life."  
  
Kim was almost in tears. She hugged her father and said, "Thank you daddy. I love you."  
  
She kissed her on the top of her head while embracing her, "I love you too sweetie."  
  
Chase knocked on the door and said, "I'm hope I'm not interrupting anything."  
  
Jack smiled at him and said, "Treat her right or I'll kill you."  
  
"You said that already." Chase said jokingly.  
  
When the all returned to the dining room Kim gave them the good news. They finished the night off and Jack told Kim he would be going on an assignment that Monday and to call him with the details of when the wedding would be and he would make sure to get back so he could walk her down the aisle. 


End file.
